


Queen and Lionheart

by mennuie



Category: Frozen (2013)
Genre: Drama, F/M, Family Feels, Fluff and Angst
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-03-07
Updated: 2014-04-20
Packaged: 2018-01-14 01:26:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 9
Words: 34,445
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1247542
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mennuie/pseuds/mennuie
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Nearly a decade has passed since Queen Elsa of Arendelle took her throne. Life in the kingdom has gone on much like normal, even with a queen possessing the power to control ice and snow—but no kingdom can be at ease forever.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hello! I can't tell you the last time I wrote a fanfic, but I've been so obsessed with Frozen for the past few weeks I couldn't help it. Seriously, it's acceptable to have a huge girlcrush on an animated character, right? Please take a moment to review if you get the chance! All feedback is welcome.

The crash was loud enough to echo through the empty halls—in truth, not so empty as in years past, but the sounds did have a tendency to carry. Elsa looked up from her desk, quill paused mid-stroke as some of the ink leaked out onto the parchment in a small smudge. Light footsteps followed, hurrying along toward the source. Three, two, one...

" _Rolf_! Not again!"

"It was Astrid's fault, Mamma!"

"No it wasn't, Astrid's been in the garden the whole time."

"Does this mean I have to go to bed early?"

Elsa heard an exasperated sigh. "Rolf, did you bend the arm joint? I can't get it back on." There was a good deal of clanking and metal bumping against metal before another sigh followed. Just another suit of armor casualty for the blacksmith. Elsa had seriously considered removing them until her niece and nephew were older, but the hall just looked too empty without them. That and Rolf had begged her not to. She hadn't quite learned to say no to Anna's children.

Nearly ten years had passed since the gates had been opened for good, and during that time, Arendelle had thrived. There had been a learning curve, but Elsa couldn't say she was entirely unprepared or in over her head with the duties of ruling a kingdom. And on that note, she wouldn't pretend that everything had been simple. A few tensions in foreign relations, a year of a poor harvest, and another year of an illness claiming an unfortunate amount of casualties had kept her quite busy, and in between all of that, she was able to watch her family grow.

Anna and Kristoff had wed a little over a year after the coronation. This time, the engagement had been willingly blessed by the Queen, who had frankly been quite surprised that Anna had waited that long. A year and a half later, and they had a son. Born during the winter, Elsa had been almost too terrified to even see him. Nothing had frightened her more than the thought of any possibility of her nephew inheriting her curse. And even after that question had been answered—what if she hurt him?

It wasn't until Kristoff had mustered up the courage to confront her several days later that she went to actually see the baby, rather than just checking on her sister. "Haven't you seen him? He's all Anna's looks, hair and all." And that he was. Seeing that he possessed none of her icy features was a relief, but she still declined to hold him, content to stare and smile at the beautiful infant that had joined the family, until an exasperated Kristoff thrust him into her hands. To her relief, the blankets he was swaddled in didn't ice over.

By the time his sister Astrid was born three years later, she'd become quite a natural aunt. Her fears had not resurfaced, and she'd been one of the first to meet her niece. Fortunately, her blonde locks, lighter at first, had quickly proven to be Kristoff's genes rather than her own.

It was strange to think that they were already seven and four, respectively.

Elsa glanced down at the letter she'd been drafting, lips pursed at the ink smudge. Fortunately, she'd barely gotten started on it, so she hadn't lost much. Setting the original sheet of parchment aside, she picked up a fresh piece and once again dabbed her quill in a small bottle of ink sitting to the side of the desk. The tip hadn't even had a chance to touch the page before she was once again interrupted, this time by the door opening.

Sometimes, she thought to herself, the old days of locked doors could have been okay.

"I need adult conversation. I mean, really, there's only so much I can take at a time of saying the same things over and over and over," babbled Anna, all in the matter of what Elsa was sure was a single breath. "'Don't do that. Put that down.' Oh yeah, sure, you can laugh—It's only funny when you're not the one saying it." The reprimand was only mocking and well-intentioned, but always that much funnier coming from Anna.

Elsa didn't bother to suppress a giggle, hand delicately covering her mouth as she set the quill down, allowing the ink to leak onto the scrap page of parchment she'd already ruined.

"What are you working on? Or at least attempting with my wild mountain children loose in the halls."

Elsa smirked. Anna often liked to joke that the children took after their father in terms of their energy and ability to find trouble, but Elsa always wanted to point out that they reminded her so much more of Anna. They were starting to get to the ages where she really couldn't point it out, though. Rolf was already past it, and Astrid was only a year away from being Anna's age at the time of the accident. Saying such a thing had too much potential to be taken the wrong way. And how would you know. And the worst part? Anna would be right to question it.

"Oh, they're fine," she lied. She didn't mind, but there were times they were distracting. "And it's nothing exciting anyway."

"Tell me all the same, please. I told you I need adult conversation."

Elsa shrugged. Very well. She launched into the full story, on Arendelle's grain supply for the year and Skagen's loss of livestock due to a storm, and all the various technicalities involved in her current discussions with King Frederik on tariff negotiations. "Sorry," she said finally, aware that she had probably said more than what was necessary. "Told you it wasn't very exciting."

"No, it was—It was fine," Anna replied, holding back a laugh. Elsa was the one that had been groomed to rule. Taxes and tariffs and trade and foreign relations and everything else that went into ruling a kingdom had been her life from the time she closed herself away.

Standing, Elsa moved across the study to one of the bookshelves, pulling out a rather large, leather-bound book bearing Arendelle's crest. "Actually, there is something that you might be interested in, now that I think of it." There was a very slight gleam in Elsa's eye, and Anna couldn't help but start to let expectations get the better of her.

The book was set out on the desk, the parchment, quill, and ink shifted aside to make room. "Arendelle's statutes," Elsa began, and she could feel the skepticism radiating from Anna as she moved closer. "Arendelle's statutes make the succession process quite straightforward. I thought that after me, the throne would pass directly to you, as our father's daughter, and following you, to Rolf." She paused, pointing at a particular paragraph on the page.

Anna's gaze met Elsa, uncertainty present. If that wasn't the line of succession, she wasn't sure what else could be. Truthfully, she'd never thought much about the subject, because for that to even be an issue, she would first have to lose Elsa, and for that—No.

"The throne would instead pass to the first male heir. So in this case, that's Rolf."

Anna looked relieved, a little unsure of what any other possibilities could be. Truthfully, it made sense, even if she was bypassed in the process. She'd long been used to such realities.

"I've drafted an amendment, to settle my succession. The throne will go to you, for as long as you live, and then to Rolf."

"Elsa, why are we discussing this? I mean, I don't think we need to worry about it now."

The Queen wasn't sure what reaction she'd expected, but this wasn't quite it. The subject matter was a bit... Well, morbid, it was true, but it had to be done. Things happened. Their parents were only going to be gone for two weeks. Two weeks, to celebrate their cousin's wedding that they had never met. They hadn't planned to never come back. It just happened.

"Well, I'm asking you." Elsa was the queen. She was well accustomed by then to telling things rather than asking, though she was by no means a monarch that didn't take other opinions into account. She had an entire advising staff to help keep her informed, seeing as how she couldn't be everywhere all at once. In fact, they were probably starting to shuffle in for the weekly meeting as she spoke. "Do you want this? I prefer it this way—but this is your choice."

"Unless someone else comes along, right?"

The question caught Elsa off guard. She knew exactly what her sister meant, but before that moment the thought had never even crossed her mind. "In theory, I suppose," she said, her lips pursed. Theory was all it was, for many, many reasons. "I have to go. You'll think about it, won't you?"

She waited for the nod from Anna before making her way to the door and out into the hall.

By the time she reached the council meeting, everyone was still there, save for a new face waiting out in the hall. There were guards nearby, so it was little cause for alarm, but it was some confusion. She glanced at him just before entering the council chambers, held in the large study. No doubt someone of nobility, but he had an ease about him that she instantly found off-putting.

"Your majesty." Nearly everyone in the room spoke at the same time, standing as she entered and mixing the salutation with the sound of sliding chairs against the parquet floors.

"Please, take your seats. My apologies for my tardiness." Elsa wasn't always particularly fond of the formalities, but once you let them go completely, it was sometimes difficult to demand the same level of respect. As a relatively young, female monarch ruling solo, she was comfortable allowing many of the formalities to continue. "Shall we begin?"

Around the long table sat the various members of her advisory council. The only people she trusted more than the men in the room were the members of her family, and honestly, there were some things that would probably be safer with one of the advisors than even her family members.

"Ahem." All eyes in the room turned to the foreign affairs advisor, his expression somewhat apologetic. "If there are no objections, I would like to make a small announcement. As discussed previously, I will be departing for Corona within the fortnight, and I believe I have found a very able candidate for my replacement."

The queen took a moment's pause. There wouldn't be much time left for vetting more than one candidate with how late the advisor had left it. She'd had a few ideas earlier on, but they'd all fallen rather short on the qualifications. "Very well. Who have you chosen?"

"Ah, Petter Løvenskiold, your majesty. He's the heir to a Barony of Vestfold." Situated directly to the east, Vestfold had long been allies of their neighbor Arendelle, but it had been an easy alliance with little to no need for ambassadors. "Admittedly rather young, but he's traveled extensively on behalf of his father for the last several years."

"And you trust him to provide the expertise of council?" _To your queen_ did not need to be added—the thought was there all the same.

"I do, ma'am."

"Very well, arrange a meeting—as soon as you can, please."

"He's here already, ma'am. He arrived in Arendelle this morning and insisted on accompanying me to the palace. If your majesty has no other arrangements, you can meet with him this afternoon."

Elsa stifled a sigh, but her lips pursed. Taking the liberties to just show up on the assumption that she wasn't a very busy woman and would be able to meet with him on a whim was quite an assumption. In truth, nothing had been arranged, but she'd had her own plans to continue the work that had been interrupted earlier.

"I'm afraid I do have previous engagements for the afternoon, Ivar. If you would make arrangements for him to meet me tomorrow after noon, that would be preferable."

"Yes, of course, your majesty."

"Thank you," she said, finally turning from Ivar to face the agricultural councillor. "Now, Magnus—any news on the crops?" Petter Løvenskiold was going to have to learn patience.


	2. Chapter 2

The next day dawned, and as promised, Ivar arrived at the palace the next day with the new candidate in tow. By the time Kai brought them into the study, Elsa was surprised to look up from her work and find herself face to face with the same stranger that had been standing outside the council chambers the previous day. Of course, she thought somewhat bitterly to herself. She should have made the connection.

"The Honourable Petter Løvenskiold, son of Baron Løvenskiold, your majesty."

Elsa gave a nod in acknowledgement as Petter bent down into a stiff bow. He didn't seem to take his eyes off her the entire time, something Elsa couldn't say she was used to. Many people often seemed uncomfortable even making eye contact for more than a few seconds on first meetings, but his gaze never shifted. Those dark brown eyes didn't seem sinister, per say, but they were a bit on the intense side. She didn't want people to look away or feel uncomfortable around her, but this was on the opposite end of the spectrum.

"Your majesty." Ah, so he could speak.

Elsa raised a brow, ever so slightly. "Thank you, Kai. That will be all." The faithful servant was dismissed, leaving the three to their discussions as Elsa turned once more to the newcomer. He was still making eye contact. It seemed petty and rather primal in nature, but she couldn't bring herself to break the gaze first. "You're late," was all she managed to say, breaking the silence.

"Ah, my fault entirely, your majesty," offered Ivar, shifting his weight with a chuckle. "I misjudged the time and made the poor fellow take the long way around the city. We were admiring the architecture."

Elsa felt only slightly ashamed for being so determined to place the blame on the newcomer, but she was just as guilty as most of being averse to change. Ivar had long been a trusted advisor, and even if she was judging a book by its cover with Petter, she had a strong feeling that he wasn't going to be capable of filling his predecessor's shoes.

Just be hospitable, she told herself, debating for a moment about how to continue with the conversation. But then he was watching her, still, almost like someone reading a book, and once again she was entirely too uncomfortable with the idea of him studying her so intently.

"Is this your first time in Arendelle?" she questioned, fixing her own gaze once again on him, matching the intensity as best she could.

"No, your majesty," started Petter, dipping his head once again in a slight bow. To Elsa, it seemed a bit condescending, but maybe it was that ridiculous shape he was making with his mouth-almost like a half-grin, but not quite even that. "Though I will admit that I haven't spent much time here and it's been quite a few years."

"And you feel that gives you enough experience with the people of Arendelle to sit on the highest council in the kingdom?" She ignored Ivar visibly flinching at the question. It had to be asked.

That stupid, inscrutable facial expression was back, though this time with more of a smirk. He bowed his head slightly once more-why did he keep doing that?-before speaking. "Well, your majesty, I believe that the qualifications for this position mostly involve expertise on other kingdoms outside of Arendelle. I assure you, I've nearly spent more time abroad than I have in the one of my birth."

Every word was thick with a roguish petulance, and Elsa was quite sure that she'd heard enough. How dare he spark such a tone with her? She could ask the pointed questions. It was her kingdom. It was she that needed to ensure that the advisor appointed to the position was capable of handling such duties. Foreign relations were not a joking matter. Someone that couldn't even be bothered to feign humility was not going to be involved in any correspondence with other kingdoms.

"Thank you. I'll be sure to take that into consideration during the deliberations," she said curtly. "And I believe I've heard all I need. Kai!"

The door swung open, and Kai stepped inside. "Yes, your majesty?"

"If you would please see this gentleman out." Gentleman, indeed.

"Yes, ma'am."

"Thank you." She started to turn back toward Ivor when he spoke again.

"I meant no disrespect, I assure you, your majesty," he started, his tone and even expression somewhat softened, though not considerably. "I would not disrespect Her Majesty." Now there was a hint of earnest in his tone, but Elsa only fixed him with a slight scowl. "I appreciate your taking the time to meet with me." And there was that little bowed head again, before he finally turned to follow Kai.

"Ivar, would you stay a moment?"

"Of course, ma'am."

She waited for the door to close and the sound of footsteps to start down the hall before moving back towards her writing desk and taking a seat. "You've had months to find a replacement, Ivar. And you bring me him?"

"I would recommend no one better, ma'am."

She looked up at him, a mixture of skepticism and confusion etched on her brow.

"He's brilliant, I assure you. He's had nothing but good relations during his time abroad-"

"Yes, yes, you've both said he's spent time abroad, but to what purpose? Visiting on a holiday isn't the same as diplomatic relations, Ivar. I don't care how big of a success he is at every tavern in every port from here to the Southern Isles."

"That isn't what I meant by his travels, ma'am. His father was an ambassador for the Vestfold for years. He traveled with him from the time he was eighteen-"

"That's still not the same thing, Ivar."

"-And he's spent the last six years serving in his father's place, once the man was taken ill and confined to the barony."

Elsa still looked skeptical. "He's got all the diplomatic qualities of a goat, Ivar."

"He's extremely qualified-"

"In fact, I think I would rather appoint a goat."

Ivar couldn't help but chuckle. "Give him another chance, ma'am. I honestly wouldn't have brought him if I didn't feel he was the absolute best man for the job."

"You just want me to really know what I'm missing with you gone," she smirked, picking up her quill once more to return to her work, and Ivar took that as his cue to depart. "You know you'll be missed, Ivar. You don't have to prove it."

"I really do ask you to reconsider, ma'am."

"I can't make any promises," she said after a moment, looking up at him with a sigh. "Join us for dinner tomorrow night, and bring him with you. One last chance."

"Thank you, ma'am." And with that, he made his departure, leaving Elsa shaking her head in disbelief at herself. Why did he even deserve another chance?

By the time she was finishing up on her work, Elsa almost didn't notice the door creak open slightly, and she pretended not to notice the clumsy little footsteps of a seven-year-old entering the study in a best attempt to be sneaky. Grinning, she finished up her last little task, folding a letter. "Do you want to seal it, Rolf?" she asked aloud, only to be met with giggles.

A little boy with strawberry blonde hair crawled out from behind one of the chairs, looking quite proud of himself for what he thought had been a stealthy entrance. "Can I?!" He moved quickly over to his aunt's desk, looking excited as she handed him a stick of deep red wax.

"Careful, now," she said, picking up a candle and holding the flame next to the wax. In a few seconds, it started dripping onto the center of the fold in the letter. "That's it-careful with your fingers, there. Bit more of an angle... Mhmm. There!" Setting the candle down, she took up the stick of wax again, stirring and shaping the drips into a near-enough perfect circle. Slipping the signet ring off her finger, she handed it over to Rolf. "Here you go."

The boy took it and happily pressed it into the drips of wax, holding it for a moment as Elsa put a hand on his to guide it straight back up without smudging or distorting the Arendelle crest. "There!"

"Are you all done?"

"I am! Why, did you have something in mind?"

"I'm hungry," he whined. "Can I have a chocolate?"

Elsa glanced over at the grandfather clock at the edge of the room. "It's nearly time for dinner. You'll spoil your appetite and then your mother be angry at us both, don't you think?"

"She won't know. It won't spoil anything. I'll eat all of my supper, promise."

Elsa laughed. The future king of Arendelle was learning all about negotiations at a young age. "It's only half an hour until dinner, Rolf. Besides, what if I don't have any chocolates?"

Now it was the boy's turn to giggle. "You always have it. Pleeease. I'm starving." And with his final plea, he poked his bottom lip out in a pout.

"Okay, okay, on one condition. You eat all of your dinner."

"Promise!"

"Oh, and this stays between the two us, okay?"

"That's two conditions."

Elsa grinned. "So it is. Two conditions, then. So do we have a deal?" She outstretched an open hand, which her nephew promptly shook, his smile widening in anticipation as she unlocked a drawer in her desk. Beneath several pages of parchment, all of them previous letters that she wasn't quite ready to toss out yet in case she needed to reference them again, was a small tin box. Pulling it out, she opened the lid and held it out to her nephew, who reached in to grab a handful. "Just a few pieces, now," she laughed, and he limited himself to three. By the time she'd replaced the box in the drawer, he'd finished two, and was starting on the last one.

"Thank you, Aunt Elsa." Without a moment's warning, she nearly had to put a hand out on the desk to steady herself as she stood, as her nephew had wrapped his arms around her legs in a hug.

Elsa bent down to return the embrace, ruffling her nephew's hair (much to his annoyance) as she stood once more. "You'd better go get washed up and changed for dinner. You know how the cook hates it when we start late." She couldn't say she blamed them. Elsa was the type of person that was there anywhere between five minutes early to right on schedule, but never late. She didn't have the patience for those that were consistently late, except with Anna-a sisterly fringe benefit, she supposed. It had always annoyed her when they had awkward family meals when they'd been growing up, though.

Everyone managed to make it on time that night, though. Elsa, Anna, Kristoff, Rolf, and Astrid were mostly silent through the first course, but by the time they were nearly finished with the second, everyone was discussing their day.

"Yeah, it's funny," began Anna with a slightly mischievous grin. "Rolf started coming down for dinner without washing up, and somehow he managed to have chocolate on his hands. I wonder where that came from."

Rolf glanced down at his place, picking at a potato absentmindedly. Elsa, on the other hand, said all that Anna needed to know with a small grin and overly innocent shrug.

"We're having dinner guests tomorrow," Elsa started, glancing over across the table at her sister and brother-in-law. "I'd like both of you to be there, but I'll understand if you'd rather not."

"Who's coming?" This time it was Anna that spoke again, genuinely curious, but obviously with low expectations in terms of entertainment. More times than not, Elsa's guests were there for business, and the conversation was less than interesting. They always had warning, though, as the children would eat in another room with their governess. Children just didn't eat at royal or aristocratic dinner tables, but Elsa made an exception whenever it was just the family. During business dinners, however, it was for their benefit as well, as the conversation was nothing they wanted to hear.

"Ivar and the man he wants to replace him."

"Ohh, can we help interrogate, then?"

"Seems kind of cruel to make the poor man go through that with all of us here," offered Kristoff with a shrug.

"We're not that intimidating, Kristoff!" Anna retorted with a glance between her husband and sister. "Now, Elsa, on the other hand..."

The queen rolled her eyes with a playful grin. "I'm not sure he's got the good sense to be all that respectful, much less intimidated. He was here earlier. I only invited him because Ivar seems so convinced that he's the best. I wouldn't mind other opinions, though."

"I need to take a trip up into the mountains," Kristoff admitted, almost sheepishly. "And if I don't leave tomorrow, I'm worried the weather will start to turn."

"You said you weren't going until the weekend!"

"One of the ice harvesters that made it down today said the weather's starting to get a little worse. If I don't go now, it could be a while, and everyone could really use the supplies." He paused, as if realizing his error in not speaking sooner. "I'm sorry-I should have said something earlier. It's just a few days."

Anna sighed, dropping her chin to rest in her palm, elbow propped on the edge of the table. Elsa couldn't help but think how un-royal the royal family would look to most if they joined on a normal evening. While Elsa was always poised, sometimes to the point of appearing quite uptight, her sister and brother-in-law were usually the less conventional ones. If there was a need, they were almost always on their best behavior, but Kristoff was no prince. In fact, it wasn't even his title, despite his marriage to a princess. Elsa had offered to give him the title by royal decree, as he couldn't inherit it simply through his marriage with Anna, but he wasn't very interested. She'd made him a Count just before their wedding, but that had been out of necessity and so that Anna could keep her title. Also, it was simply the unfortunate reality that it was an expectation, and she wouldn't take no for an answer where that was concerned.

Elsa said nothing, as she made a point to never interfere, but in that moment the tension escalated to a degree that was beyond comfortable, and she dropped her gaze to her nearly finished plate in front of her. If they ended up arguing it would be short-lived (as their arguments always were-often and brief), but Elsa worried that if they didn't resolve it before he left, Anna would spend the next several days before he returned in a foul mood.

"Can I come with you this time, Papa?" This time it was Rolf that interjected into the conversation, breaking the silence.

"Not this time, kiddo," explained his father, giving his son an apologetic glance.

"But you said you'd take me at the end of the summer..."

"Maybe next time, Rolf. We don't know what the weather's going to be like-"

"But you said-"

"I'm saying no, Rolf."

For a few moments, the room was silent once more, before Elsa turned to the footman waiting off to the side. "I think we're done here, if you could please clear the plates."

"Yes, your majesty."

Elsa stood, followed by Anna and Kristoff, who proceeded to gather the two children up to take them up to the nursery. Elsa gave each of the children a kiss goodnight on the cheek before making her own way upstairs, retiring to her room. For nearly ten years the door had been the same-shut, but no longer locked.

She spent a couple of hours going over documents that had been given to her by her advisors before finally picking up a book of personal interest to her. She changed into nightclothes and slipped under the covers of the bed, leaning over toward a candle on the nightstand. With the curtains open, there was enough moonlight streaming through to barely need much extra light, but it hardly mattered considering that halfway through the first page, the door creaked open.

Elsa sighed, closing the book before even looking up to see who it was. No one dared to enter her room without knocking, save for three people. Setting the book down, she turned to glance over her shoulder just in time to see her sister making her way across to the bed. "I was expecting you to be Astrid or Rolf," she remarked with a grin. "Did you get them off to bed?"

Anna nodded, slipping into bed next to her sister. "I read them one story, now poor Nanny is having to read another."

"And Kristoff?"

"He's gone down to the stable to get some things ready for the morning," murmured Anna, and Elsa noticed that she'd already changed for bed as well.

"You okay?" The question was meant for Anna, but she wouldn't have minded a collective answer.

Anna shrugged. "Can't sleep. The sky's awake."

Elsa couldn't help but offer a warm smile.

"Sorry for making dinner awkward."

"You didn't."

"I didn't make it less awkward, then."

"You're the one insisting that it was." Elsa smirked.

"I just... I just wish he'd do a better job at communicating his plans with me sometimes!"

"Honestly, I think that's more of a male issue than a Kristoff issue."

"Ah, and how would you know?"

Elsa promptly chucked a pillow at her, resulting in both of them giggling. "You don't have to marry one to know how frustrating they are. Don't blame me because you had to learn it the hard way." She offered her sister a wink.

"But then who would you constantly give chocolate to before dinner if I hadn't gotten married to a man that learned how to communicate from a reindeer?"

"Hey, it's not constant. And I gave your marriage my blessing, if you'll remember-"

"This is all your fault!" laughed Anna.

"No, I didn't pass a law saying you had to. I believe the blood's still on your hands, there!"

They both laughed, harder once they realized how much they would look like schoolgirls if anyone saw them.

"But you're okay, then?" It was Elsa that finally asked once silence had fallen again.

Anna nodded. "Yeah, we're fine."

There was a light knock on the door, and a voice called out in a barely audible whisper. "Anna? Anna, are you in there?"

Kristoff.

Elsa gave her sister a knowing glance. "Night."

Anna pulled her into a quick hug. "Thanks. I might be back if he smells like a reindeer."

Once Anna was out in the corridor, Elsa could still make out a few things said between them-not that she was trying.

"I love you."

"I love you, too. But you better be planning on changing out of those before you come to bed."

With everyone by then-she assumed-where they were supposed to be, Elsa took one more glance at the book she'd been attempting, a brief internal debate taking place between her desire to read it and the necessity for sleep, before sighing and blowing out the candle next to the bed.


	3. Chapter 3

"Your majesty? Your guests have arrived." Kai's voice broke through the sound of the children laughing as they played on the drawing room rug.

Elsa's face fell slightly, glancing over at the clock. Well, at least they were early. "Is dinner on schedule?"

"Cook says it is, ma'am."

"Very well. Show them in. Oh, and fetch the children's governess, would you?"

"Yes, ma'am."

Elsa looked over at Anna, who shrugged lightly and stood. "I'll take them up to Nanny and meet you back down here after." The children sometimes met visitors, but Elsa was far too protective over her niece and nephew to let anyone that wasn't close to the royal family around them. Anna, while being very much opposed to sheltering her children from the world, was quick to agree.

With the departure of her sister, niece, and nephew, Elsa was left alone in the drawing room. Kristoff had left early that morning, his sled packed with supplies to take to tiny villages in the mountains in exchange for some of their goods, and she'd spent much of the day with Anna. While it was clear that she and Kristoff missed each other when he was away, they both realized that time away wasn't a terrible idea. It didn't mean Anna liked it any more when he was gone, however, especially when Elsa had something keeping her busy that simply had to be done.

A part of her was dreading the dinner, and she couldn't help but wonder if Petter Løvenskiold's gaze would be fixed on her again through the entire dinner. She looked forward to seeing Ivar, but made a note to herself to invite him once more before he departed, without the company of his rather rude temporary companion. Would Mr. Løvenskiold even have decent manners at the table? She would expect it of a baron's son, but with him she wouldn't let herself have too high of hopes.

"Your majesty!" It wasn't Kai's voice that broke the silence, as she was so accustomed to, but rather Ivar's. She'd been hoping that Anna would be back before they reached the drawing room, but clearly that wasn't the case.

She stood, gracefully, offering a genuine smile to her friend and advisor. "I'm glad you could make it on such short notice, Ivar."

"Always, my lady. Now, I believe you remember Petter Løvenskiold?"

"Of course. Mr. Løvenskiold, how are you?" she inquired, posture suddenly quite stiff upon addressing him. Her head was held high, shoulders back, though she did her best to keep her expression at least somewhat warm. Whether or not she succeeded, she wasn't sure. She'd done her best not to make eye contact until that point.

"Your majesty," he said, this time making a proper bow. "I've been well. I hope you've enjoyed the same."

"I have, thank you. Have you had much chance to see the city?"

"Ah, not quite as much as I should like. I'm afraid Ivar and I kept ourselves rather cooped up today," he explained. "It was a shame, since the weather was so beautiful."

There was something different about his tone that day. Tenser, perhaps, and almost rehearsed. Ivar must have told him to be on his best behavior.

Elsa wasn't sure that she liked this stiff, rehearsed version of him any more than the subtle roguishness that had plagued his demeanor before. Still, she'd given Ivar her word that she'd give him another chance. She was well aware that she had a tendency to judge a book by its cover, but no matter how wrong she knew it to be, she had her justifications. All of her relations with other people were totally dependent on trust. It wasn't personal. It wasn't to be cruel. There was the fate of a kingdom and there were lives at stake.

"Well, I'm sorry to hear that. I hope you'll have more time to see the rest of the city. Ivar, you should take him up into the mountains if the weather holds out. It's beautiful up there." She turned to look at her friend, as if to say ' _See, I'm making an effort_.'

Ivar looked as if he was about to speak when the door opened once again, and Anna slipped inside. Upon seeing the guests she altered her posture a bit, standing straighter in an effort to mimic her sister's poise.

"Allow me to introduce my sister, Princess Anna, Countess of Arendelle." There had been a period where Elsa had left out the latter part of Anna's post-marriage title, but Anna had soon after confronted her about it. Marrying Kristoff hadn't diminished her position as princess, thanks to the peerage he'd been given and Elsa's arranging of titles, and she was quite happy with her new title. It had been a difficult change for Kristoff, and the fact that he'd made it out of love for her meant the world. "Anna, this is the Honourable Petter Løvenskiold, the son of Lord Løvenskiold."

"Your Royal Highness." Another proper bow.

"Mr. Løvenskiold. It's a pleasure to meet you."

"Likewise, your highness."

Anna's attention turned to Ivar, and a wide smile quickly grew on her face. She took a few steps closer, finally giving him a small peck on the cheek. "Ivar!"

"Your highness," he replied, returning the grin with equal affection. Elsa couldn't help but think of how much she hated to see him go. He'd known them both since they were girls, having been considered a friend of their father's. He'd been there for Elsa from the very beginning of her reign, but he'd earned his retirement long before and she couldn't hold his wish to return to his family against him.

When she glanced back at Løvenskiold, his eyes were already on her, though as soon as she made eye contact, he quickly glanced away. She gave only a slight scowl before turning her attention to Kai's entrance.

"Dinner will be served momentarily, your majesty."

"Thank you. Now, if you're ready, gentlemen."

They followed further down the corridor, heading into the dining room at last. While the table was no excessively large, there were far more empty places than set ones, and they were all to be sat in close proximity. Elsa quickly moved to her usual place, Anna thankfully following to sit next to her. Ivar took a seat across from Anna, and next to him was Løvenskiold.

The room was largely silent as a soup was first brought out, and the silence continued until they were all finishing. It wasn't until the main course was being served that the conversation truly picked up. Unsurprisingly, it was initiated by Anna, though Elsa had been about to offer up something to start the discussion off.

"Where are you from, Mr. Løvenskiold?"

"The Vestfold, your highness." Elsa noticed that he was still stiff, but the occasional glance his way during the first course had revealed that despite the stiffness, he was nothing but mannerly.

Anna nodded, pausing for a moment as if she were waiting for him to elaborate further. "I've heard it's lovely there. You're the heir to a barony, then?"

Løvenskiold took a moment to swallow the bite he'd taken before shaking his head slightly. "Ah, no. I'm afraid not, your highness. That would be my older brother, Alexander. I'm afraid I'm the spare with very little prospects," he explained with a slight smirk.

Elsa wasn't sure if he was attempting to lighten the mood or not, but she couldn't hide her slight scowl. She'd had more than enough of power-hungry little brothers from their experience with the youngest prince of the Southern Isles. Where he was by then, she wasn't sure. She wanted to think he was in a cell, but it was unlikely. Foreign relations with the Southern Isles had broken down within the next couple of years anyway.

She wasn't sure why she was in any way shocked to find that he had an older brother. Normally she wouldn't have thought anything of it, had it not been for the comment about being the spare and had she not been certain that Ivar had explained that he was the heir. However, she was also trying to make a conscious effort that evening to not force herself to see the bad in him. This doesn't mean anything, she quickly reminded herself. Not all men are like him.

"Not that I'm complaining, of course," Løvenskiold added, apparently sensing some quiet in the room. "I've been lucky to travel with my father during the course of his duties."

Elsa was suddenly aware that Anna hadn't spoken, her mouth full from a bite of dinner. She'd been almost relying on her to keep the conversation going while she was lost in her thoughts.

"I don't believe I've ever met your father, Mr. Løvenskiold," remarked the queen. "Where did you work with him?"

"He was assigned to Falken first, your majesty. We lived there for a few years, and then he was asked to serve in Scania. We were in Götaland for a long while after that. It was interesting, being across the Øresund from the Southern Isles. Trade was a much more complex issue, even though it was so open." The stiffness was lifting, almost as if he was finding his comfort zone in discussing foreign relations.

"I can imagine. Now, Ivar says you've served for several years in your father's place."

"Yes, your majesty. He was taken ill in Götaland and he never quite recovered. He went to Corona for a while, but eventually returned to our home. I stayed on in Götaland for a few more months, but given the nature of the kingdom, it seemed best for a more experienced ambassador to be there. I was assigned to Svealand once their ambassador retired."

Elsa had to admit that he had an impressive background at face value, but he hadn't spoken much on the subject of accomplishments. "You didn't wish to stay there?"

"The position... Well, outgrew itself, your majesty," he said after a moment's hesitation. "Trade agreements were drafted and signed, and there was no aggression, so it seemed a bit pointless to have an ambassador there, I suppose."

"There were no other assignments for you?"

"I decided to take a short leave to do some travel of my own," he admitted, as if he knew it sounded unprofessional. "I was in Corona when I ran into Ivar last year. I believe he was on a short leave from Arendelle to visit family." He glanced over at Ivar, who nodded his head in affirmation. "We'd met before, when my father was first taken ill."

Elsa still wondered why, if this man was as intelligent as Ivar wanted to claim, he hadn't had another position waiting for him. He made it sound as if he took his leave voluntarily rather than working. But people did that, didn't they? Normal people, that is. She was suddenly acutely aware of how little experience she had with that concept.

Normal had never been in the stars for her. Even if her parents had lived and she hadn't had a kingdom thrust upon her by twenty-one, she wouldn't have been able to travel—not with her powers. While she'd been able to travel some to visit with Arendelle's allies and handle some negotiations, she suddenly realized that she'd never gone anywhere on a whim—yet she didn't regret it. She had a duty to Arendelle that came first and foremost.

The conversation continued for some time, with Elsa pressing their guest further on his experiences. Sometimes she would rephrase a question she had already asked, which seemed like an easy way to catch him on exaggerations that strayed a little off the path of truth. He never faltered, fortunately, though after the second question she'd rephrased, he seemed to catch on. By the end of the discussion (some would say interrogation), there was almost a mutual amusement present, though Elsa couldn't say she found him any more personable than before.

Elsa finally noticed that, after quite a while of conversation simply between her and Løvenskiold and without any input from Anna or Ivar, the latter of the two appeared to be in the middle of their own conversation on a completely different subject. Elsa shot Anna an apologetic glance. It must have been terribly boring to listen to her and their guest discussing the diplomatic habits of other monarchs.

As the footman started clearing the finished plates, Elsa stood, and the others followed. "You're welcome to stay for a drink in the parlor, gentlemen," she offered, though the invitation was merely out of politeness. Elsa's days were filled with business, and she preferred to have her evenings to herself, either to give herself an opportunity to recharge or to spend with her family, but she almost always made such offers nonetheless.

"Only if it pleases you, your majesty," Løvenskiold replied.

Elsa, getting tired with the lateness of the hour and after a full day of very little time to herself, wanted to snap back at him. _No, it wouldn't please me. Just answer the question_.

Ivar spoke next. "I think I'll be heading home, ma'am. I'm afraid I don't have the stamina I used to. Thank you for the invitation, all the same. Petter?"

Elsa noticed him watching her again, and it almost seemed as if he hadn't heard Ivar at first. There was a short, slightly awkward pause. "Mhmm. Oh—Yes. I'll join you, Ivar."

Ivar bade the queen and princess good night, and just before he left, Elsa addressed him once more. "Will you come by tomorrow morning? Ten o'clock would be ideal."

"Of course, ma'am."

"Thank you, Ivar. Have a good night."

"Same to you, your majesty."

* * *

Once Anna had gone to the nursery to check on the children, and due to the length of the visit likely had to read more of their favorite book of fairytales, she made her way to Elsa's room, where her sister was already in bed. A book was open and in her hand, but she seemed to be staring out the window rather than paying it any attention.

"You're in bed early. I went by your study first."

"I'm shirking responsibilities," Elsa declared, setting the book on the bedside table as Anna took a seat on the side of the bed. "I've just got all the letters I dread writing left. I'm not really in the mood for that. And anyway, it's already past eleven."

"Well I guess dinner was technically work anyway. It seemed to go well."

Elsa shrugged.

"When's Ivar leaving again?"

"Next week is his last council meeting. After that I imagine he'll be busy getting his affairs in order and making arrangements. I thought I would invite him back for dinner the night before he leaves, though, so that would be the following week."

"Did he pick the new advisor?"

"Candidate," Elsa corrected, a little too hastily. "I haven't extended any offers yet. And yes, he was Ivar's idea."

"At least he picked someone handsome," giggled Anna, as Elsa rather over-dramatically rolled her eyes. "What, you don't like him?"

"I have my doubts about his manners."

Anna laughed. "He seemed fine tonight."

"He keeps..." Elsa sighed. How could she describe it without sounding petty? "I just have my reasons."

"Too young?"

Again, Elsa could only shrug. The man was her senior by a year. In a way, it seemed unfair to consider him too young when she had been ruling a kingdom at twenty-one, but then again, the job was to advise a monarch. Experience and expertise were everything. "He's got plenty of experience for his age, but I would rather see more." She sighed. "But I couldn't come up with anyone better."

"So he's not really just a candidate."

"He is until he's proved to have a satisfactory performance on the council."

Anna shook her head. "I hope he loves spending long hours working."

"I can't even think about it tonight." She wanted to change the subject. "Do you want to go out for a ride tomorrow afternoon? I think I may lose it if I don't get out of this castle for a little while."

"You have time?" Anna questioned, her tone hopeful.

"No. But I don't suppose everything will go to hell if I disappear for one afternoon."

Anna grinned.

Ivar arrived the next morning at precisely ten o'clock. Kai brought him to the small library, where Elsa was finally finishing the tedious letters she'd been dreading. There were only so many ways she could word general wishes about nothing specific without boring herself to tears.

"I'm glad you could come. I realize you're quite busy these days."

"I'm happy to come, your majesty. Have you made a decision on Petter?"

Elsa sighed. "I realize that no one's perfect, but I do wish he had some more experience under his belt."

"I really do think he'll catch on quickly, ma'am."

"I hope you're right, considering there's not really any time left to vet another candidate," she remarked with a slight frown.

"If he doesn't meet the standards and expectations of the position, you can send word and I will search for someone to replace him."

"Well, start briefing him and get him ready. Do you want to bring him to the next council meeting?"

"He's going to depart for his home tomorrow, ma'am. He'll need to make some arrangements, and he'd made plans for a long term return if he hadn't been selected for this position. But the meetings are fairly straightforward, so I'm sure he won't have any problems. And he'll be back in plenty of time for the next council meeting after I've gone."

"Very well. Brief him and get him up to speed on the current issues."

"I will, ma'am. Is there anything else you need from me?"

"No, that will be all, unless you'd like to stay for lunch."

Ivar bowed. "Thank you very much, but I had better be getting back."

Again, she was relieved at Ivar's unwavering ability to know when she wanted to keep to herself. She fancied herself talented at concealing her true thoughts when she wanted to. After all, she'd had a lifetime to practice it.


	4. Chapter 4

The remaining week was a whirlwind of duties, arrangements, and planning. Elsa called for a party on Ivar's last night in Arendelle, which she was happy to hand over to Anna for organizing. There were certain things that Elsa had long before realized she simply wasn't destined to be much good at, and celebration planning had always been something Anna excelled in.

She liked to blame it on the fact that she wasn't naturally very interested in parties anyway, but Anna simply had a knack for making people feel at ease and making sure everyone had a good time. Not to mention the fact that she at least appeared to enjoy it. After having gone to so many parties in the years following the coronation, Elsa had learned how to make the best of them, but she was convinced that she would never really learn to enjoy aimless mingling.

The day of the party (Anna referred to it as a ball, but it really wasn't big enough for such a classification in Elsa's mind, and Ivar had requested something low-key anyway), Anna was bubbling with excitement as she, Gerda, and two of the younger maids decorated the ballroom. Astrid and Rolf trailed behind their mother, eager to help with what they could. Elsa offered to give some assistance, but they seemed to have it under control.

"This is going to be... Low-key, isn't it?" she asked as Anna helped Astrid and Rolf to wrap a column with a leafy green vine.

"Of course! But that's no excuse for it not to look good. If we're going to bother at all, we've got to make an effort."

"Just keep in mind what Ivar said. How many people did you invite?"

"Around twenty," she said simply, tacking the end of the vine to the wood to hold it in place. "...Or twenty-five. With a plus one."

" _Fifty_ people, Anna?!" She was beginning to regret not being more involved.

"That's not so bad!"

Elsa looked skeptical.

"Ivar has a lot of friends, you know. I mean, there was the council, and then his friends, and you can't very well just invite them without inviting spouses, you know. Ivar's just going to have to deal with the consequences of making so many friends."

Elsa grinned, shaking her head. There was a time in her life when she certainly considered the prospect of having friends burdensome. She still couldn't say she had a large circle of personal friends, as most of them were political or business acquaintances, but she had her family and those like Ivar that had been friends of the family for decades.

"Mama, are we done yet?" Astrid was tugging on Anna's skirts, looking up at her impatiently.

Anna bent down to be eye-level with her youngest. "Not yet. Why, are you tired?"

"I'm bored."

"You want to go do something else?"

The little girl nodded.

Anna had noticed her sister's state of dress-her typical, rather plain riding habit, gloves in hand. It was the only time her sister put gloves on anymore. "Elsa, were you on your way out? Do you think you could catch a servant and get them to go get Nanny?"

"Can I go see Papa?" interrupted Astrid.

Elsa laughed. "Or I can take her to Kristoff. Where is he?"

"I think he's at the stable. He might be working," Anna said, the last part directed at both her daughter and her sister.

"We'll just go for a walk down there, then. Astrid, do you want to go with me?"

The little girl nodded, moving over to her aunt, her little hand reaching out to grasp Elsa's skirt.

"Nanny can take her, if you've got somewhere to be," Anna gently reminded her.

"I already cleared my schedule for the day. And anyway, I don't think I'm much use here," grinned Elsa.

The walk to the stables was much longer than usual when her niece's pair of short legs were making the journey with their deliberate steps of someone that wasn't quite so used to navigating the inevitably uneven stone streets, but Elsa didn't mind. It gave her the opportunity to talk to the child more, though she had to be careful not to exhaust every question. Astrid could be a talkative one when she wanted, but she also had many of her father's quieter traits, where Rolf could rival his mother in words spoken in a minute when he was excited. The ease with which she could converse with her niece and nephew still surprised her. Other than the years she was close with Anna, she hadn't had much experience with children until they were born, and she'd been terrified of being the cold and distant aunt, even after she'd gotten over her fears with holding her nephew. They were good kids, though, and they made it easy. Not to mention the fact that she loved them fiercely.

"Did you have fun decorating?"

"A little."

"Only a little? That doesn't sound very exciting."

"It wasn't," Astrid said plainly, and Elsa couldn't hide her grin. Her niece was always honest, and while she would hopefully learn the art of tactfully disagreeing with time, she hoped that Astrid would always say what she thought.

"Why not?"

"I want to be outside. Papa said one of the reindeers had a baby. Can we go see?"

"Of course. We're going to the stable now." Elsa still found it a little bit humorous that there were reindeer in the royal stable. There were only three (or perhaps four now, with the new addition), but once Sven (who had more than earned himself a comfortable stall after his service to Arendelle) had reached the point of retirement to a life of luxury in the stables for the remainder of his days, Kristoff had bought two young ones to replace him. He had a way with them, but Elsa didn't think they could possibly replace Sven, and she didn't think Kristoff could consider them replacements, either. The only way forward for him had been to love them for their unique qualities and not compare them to his first best friend.

He was there when they arrived, oiling the leather on his harnesses, but he looked up with smile once his sister-in-law entered with his daughter. Astrid ran over, excitedly demanding to see the new reindeer.

He lifted her up with ease, opening the top half of the stall door to let her peer in. He glanced over at Elsa, shrugging. "Anna kick you out of the castle?"

"Something like that," she said, grinning. "Your daughter wasn't impressed by any of it. She asked to come see you instead."

"That's my girl!" Kristoff exclaimed, swinging his giggling daughter around.

"Have you got time to watch her?"

"Of course. I'm just doing some minor maintenance. She can help clean the tack if she wants. Then I thought I'd take the reindeer out for some exercise."

"Watch your timing. You may want to have one of the staff have a bath drawn for you when you get back. Anna will be furious if you show up tonight smelling like the stable," Elsa reminded him with a smirk.

Kristoff shrugged, glancing out the door at the position of the sun. "Yeah, maybe just a short run, on second thought."

"The groom didn't take Simen out, did he?" she asked, thought it was more of a rhetorical question as she moved over to her horse's stall to see him there, perking up at the sight of his master. "Ah, good!" The horse, having been a gift from a neighboring kingdom and ally, was truly beautiful. Tall for his breed, he was also of the rare kvit variety, with a white coat and light dorsal stripe. At first she'd thought it was quite disappointingly predictable to give "the snow queen" the rare pure white horse, but it hadn't taken her long to become quite attached.

"You're taking him out?" asked Kristoff, hanging up one of the harnesses he'd finished with. "Remember your own advice. Queen or not, Anna will kill you too if you smell like a horse."

"Bit less pungent than reindeer sweat," she retorted, attaching a lead to the horse's halter and leading him out.

"Fair enough. Need a hand? Jan had to run to the blacksmith's."

Elsa shook her head. Normally she had her horse saddled by the groom in the benefit of time, as she didn't always have an extra half hour to spare. She couldn't help but think about how relaxing it was, though. She brushed him down, picked his hooves (even laughing as his tail swatted her in the face on the back ones), and tacked him up, enjoying being able to do something for herself for a change.

Her father had taught her basic horsemanship skills from a young age, though she stopped riding or going near the horses when her powers started to get too out of control. She was too afraid of hurting her beloved pony, and he was given to Anna once she no longer went to ride him. At the time, she'd had mixed feelings on the change in ownership. While it was best for him to remain where he'd always been under the care of the royal family's groom, and even knowing that Anna would be the best rider for him, she'd been sad to lose yet another friend.

Once she learned to control her powers, it was clear that there was no making up for the lost time. She'd read books on horsemanship that had been in her father's library, but it wasn't the same as actually riding. Within a few years, however, and with the help of the groom, she'd grown as comfortable as ever with riding again. There were few substitutes for the stress relief an hour or two would bring. Besides that, there was nothing more humbling than working with a stubborn half-ton animal. They didn't care if you were a queen or a pauper. The expectations were all the same for them.

"I'll be back by two, I should think," she told Kristoff as she pulled herself up into the saddle. With a few steps at the walk, she urged the horse up into a trot, hooves clicking against the paving stones and echoing against the walls surrounding the castle. Once through the gates and out into the city, she took him by the harbor, which had less foot traffic that day than the rest of the city.

It wasn't like her to be unobservant, but she would have missed the ship with a Vestfold flag had it not been for the familiar face leading his horse up from the dock. Hearing the hooves of her horse, Petter Løvenskiold stopped to let her pass. Having been unsure of whether or not he was stopping, however, she had already pulled her horse to a near halt.

"Your majesty!" he said, giving a slight, surprised bow.

"Mr. Løvenskiold." She nodded, equally surprised and glancing down at him. "I didn't think you would be back so soon."

"It's only a two-day trip, ma'am, and I didn't have a great deal of loose ends to tie up."

"Well, you've made it back in time for Ivar's ball," she told him, internally wincing as she realized the word choice. "Though I think celebration would be a better term." At least she hoped, but who knew with Anna and her fifty guests. "Will you be attending?"

"I hadn't received an invitation, ma'am."

"Well consider this your invitation. I'm sorry, I'm sure the Princess Anna was under the same impression as I that you wouldn't be in Arendelle by tonight."

"Thank you, ma'am. And there's no need to apologize. I will certainly be there."

"There's no obligation," she added, aware of how it may have sounded to him coming from his new queen. "I'm sure you're exhausted from your travels."

"I wouldn't miss it, ma'am. No better treatment for sea legs than a night of dancing."

Elsa was able to offer a genuine smile at the idea. For her, there was nothing better for sea legs, especially on a return journey, than slipping into her own bed earlier than usual.

"What time should I arrive?"

"Seven, I think, was listed on the invitations, but people will be arriving through seven-thirty." She wished she'd had an extra with her, as she couldn't quite remember everything Anna had listed. "Oh, and you're welcome to bring a guest," she remembered, glancing over at his ship and the people still aboard. "I realize we didn't discuss many personal matters before, but if you have a wife joining—"

She was interrupted by the sound of Petter's cough, as if he'd just choked on a glass of water. "Ah—No, your majesty—" he managed, quickly correcting her. "I'm not married." He paused for a moment, collecting himself. "And I'll be coming on my own tonight. The only one accompanying me from home is a servant and Reidar here." He gave the horse a pat on the neck.

She noticed him shift, somewhat uncomfortably, and although she knew it was cruel, a part of her enjoyed seeing the stubborn confidence a little shaken.

"Well, you can let the staff at the castle know if you need anything," she said, gathering up her reins as she prepared to continue on.

"I only have one request so far."

Elsa sighed. She hadn't intended to invite any requests, which was why she had instructed him to let a servant know.

"Are there any livery stables here in the city? Ivar explained that I could bring my horse and there may be an open stall in the royal stable, but I would hate to request such a thing of you. I would pay all of his expenses, of course, and extra for the space, but—"

"There's a livery on the edge of the city opposite the castle," she said simply, reaching down to give her horse a pat as he started shifting his weight, anxiously awaiting a direction from her. "And another in the city center, just across from the blacksmith. That one is often full, though. If it is, you can take him to the royal stables until a stall opens."

"Thank you, your majesty." He bowed once more, but she had already given her horse a light kick and sent him forward.

By the time Elsa returned, Anna had finished almost all of the preparations. Regardless of the scale, she had done a magnificent job, as usual. Elsa had always thought Anna had a talent for knowing exactly what was just enough in terms of appearance and supplies. She'd never seen their guests go hungry, but they'd never had a good deal of waste, and she kept decorations minimal enough that it was never a distraction from the usual beauty of the palace.

Shortly after Elsa had made her way downstairs to meet the guests that had already begun to filter in, Anna returned from seeing the children off to the nursery to prepare for bed.

"It's beautiful," remarked Elsa, delighting in the smile the compliment brought to her sister's face.

There was music, wine, and canapés for an hour, and then began the speeches. Elsa didn't mind addressing crowds, so long as it seemed like a worthy address and not just speaking for the sake of giving a speech. Bidding farewell to a long-trusted advisor was a worthy address. When she was finished, Ivar gave his own farewell address, followed by a short introduction of Petter, who was there as promised.

The music resumed after, and the dancing began. As the first dance began, Ivar held out a hand for Elsa, who obliged. She still didn't enjoy dancing all that much, but once she had learned to control her powers, Anna had all but forced her to learn, along with Kristoff. He surprisingly enjoyed it, though he wasn't one to dance with anyone but Anna. If she danced with anyone else, he took the opportunity to walk by the food.

But when the first dance ended, and she thought she had done her duty for the evening, she was met by Petter.

"Mr. Løvenskiold." He was dressed quite well for the occasion, though she would have expected nothing less, and his ash brown hair, windblown and almost salty in appearance from the sea earlier, had been washed and perhaps even trimmed. "If your reception during your introduction is any indication of what the future holds, then it will be a smooth transition indeed," she remarked, almost wishing that Ivar was standing next to her to hear her making an effort.

"Your majesty." He bowed. "I certainly hope so. Thank you for the warm introduction. I don't think I've ever been introduced during a ball before."

"I don't think any of your colleagues were either," she said, her tone an attempt to indicate that it wasn't standard practice. Surely he didn't think Ivar's farewell was in any way a celebration of himself, did he? He'd yet to earn any praise.

Petter smiled, finally breaking eye contact to glance around the room as the next song was starting. "I haven't got a partner," he admitted.

"Didn't you dance the first one?"

"I did. With that young lady over there." He indicated a pretty young woman preparing to dance with another man with a nod of his head before holding out his hand. "Your majesty, would you do me the great honor?"

Elsa shifted. "I'm not all that fond of dancing, Mr. Løvenskiold."

"Please? I love a waltz. And it seems fitting-first dance with the departing veteran, second with the newcomer," he explained, grinning as the queen rolled her eyes. "And I promise not to ask you again tonight."

Elsa sighed, reluctantly reaching out to take his hand. "One."

He bowed before he slipped his hand around her waist, coming to rest a little further below the shoulder blade than she particularly liked, and she moved a hand to to the top of his shoulder. She watched the room behind him as they started, but she could feel his gaze on her, and she tried to ignore it.

While she wasn't sure she could pinpoint all of the reasons she didn't enjoy dancing as much as most, she was fairly certain that the close physical contact was one. She'd never really gotten used to people other than Anna being too close, and even Anna had learned that she still needed some space.

But his touch was light, and as they danced, she was grateful that he didn't attempt to pull her any closer. He was also rather good-there was no treading on toes, and Elsa was happy to let him lead. Eventually she managed to break the concentration on where exactly her feet were going, and her blue eyes met his brown. He smiled.

"No trouble with you sea legs then, I take it?" she asked.

"Oh no, none at all. Two days is hardly enough time to get sea legs."

Elsa disagreed, but she didn't have that much experience. Silence fell between them again for a moment, until Petter spoke once more.

"For someone that isn't fond of dancing, you'd never know it."

"What?" She had to admit some confusion.

"I only meant that you dance well, your majesty."

Once again, she felt she had to disagree, but that wasn't really the point. Yes, she could dance without tripping or treading on her partner's toes. Learning proper technique and finding pleasure in doing it were two very different things. "That has very little to do with enjoying it," she simply said, slight amusement over his assumptions in her tone.

"Perhaps you haven't had the right partner. How are you feeling about it now?" questioned Petter, his petulant grin returning for a moment only to fade as the queen fixed him with a wary glance. In a slightly nervous gesture, his eyes wandered to the wall over her shoulder.

Elsa didn't respond, too proud to compliment him on not being the worst partner she'd ever had. She wouldn't have had much of an opportunity, however, as the music came to a stop, and with it the dance. She felt some relief as he removed his hand from her back and let go of her other, and thought to wonder how cold her hand had been to the touch. He bowed, and she returned the gesture with a nod.

"Thank you, your majesty. It was an honor."

"Thank you, Mr. Løvenskiold." With that, she retreated off to the sidelines and away from the center before any other invitations were made, feeling content that duty had been honored. Fortunately, the next person to approach her following her procurement of a goblet of wine was Anna.

"Two dances in a row? I'm impressed."

"You're counting?" Elsa replied, smiling before taking a sip of wine.

"Only observing," Anna teased. "I think you're starting to like it."

"Sorry to disappoint you, but not quite. Why aren't you dancing? It's one of your favorites."

Anna glanced over Elsa's shoulder, nodding her head as Kristoff approached, a glass of wine in each hand. "Kristoff wanted a break too," she explained, taking one of the glasses.

"Is it over yet?" Elsa quipped, receiving a grin from Kristoff and an eye-roll from her sister.

"You two can stand over in the corner all night if you'd like, but I intend to dance the night away. It's been so long since we've had a ball! Elsa, we need to do this more often."

Elsa laughed. "We just had one at the beginning of the summer, Anna. We can't have one every week. There would be a revolt over the debt we'd be in."

"Well, I'm going to enjoy them when we have them," declared Anna, nose turning up with an indignant grin before looking to her husband, hand outstretched. "Sir, may I have this dance?"

He took her hand with a smile, the two of them heading back out towards the dancing as another began. He shot a glance back at Elsa with a shrug, who couldn't help but laugh at the pair.

Elsa spent the remainder of the night mingling, taking the opportunity to discuss matters of state and business with the other advisors and lords present in a more informal setting than everyone sitting around a table. Eventually, she and Kristoff ended up off to the side as Anna had predicted, Kristoff quietly making the occasional joke about other guests as Elsa attempted to maintain the regal air expected of her and not burst into laughter while looking at anyone in particular. After that, it was almost a relief to be approached by the Minister of Coin and to return to a very business-oriented discussion.

Anna, on the other hand, was completely in her element. When she wasn't dancing, she was mingling, making the ladies laugh and keeping the moods light and relaxed. Elsa had always been impressed by her ability to make every person in a room, even if there were two hundred, feel valued and happy. Once she noticed her dancing with Petter, the pair of them laughing about something. He seemed to get on quite well with most of the other guests, in fact, though she could tell that a few of the lords bristled slightly around him. Change was a challenge for most, though. Even for her at times.

By the time the clock struck one, the last of the guests had gone, save for Ivar, and the final goodbyes were being made.

"Send word once you arrive safely, won't you?"

"I will, your majesty. Thank you for everything. I know I've said it, but I can't emphasize it enough. It's been a privilege to serve you these last years, and your father before that."

"I can't thank you enough for all of your years of loyalty—to me and to my family. Especially in those early years, your service on the council was invaluable." She gave a nod to Kai, who passed her a box that she then handed off to Ivar, a purple ribbon tied around it and sealed with the Arendelle crest. "It's just something small. A piece of Arendelle to take with you. From Princess Anna and I."

Ivar smiled, genuinely touched. "Thank you, your majesty."

"We'll miss you!" Anna declared, sad to be saying a goodbye.

"And I you, your highness," he responded, looking to Anna before glancing back to the queen. "Your majesty."

With a bow, he departed, and Elsa turned to Kai and Gerda, who were waiting for further instructions as the younger maids began to clean. She was too exhausted to think of them staying up late cleaning only to rise early the next day.

"It's getting late. Why don't you all get some sleep? We're not conducting any business tomorrow, so everything can wait until then to be cleared up."

"Yes, your majesty—thank you."

Anna failed to stifle a yawn, and Kristoff put a hand on her shoulder. "Are we getting old or are parties lasting longer?"

Elsa smirked. "Not losing stamina, are you?"

"A little," shrugged her sister with a tired smile. "But Astrid came and woke us up before sunrise, so..."

"Sounds familiar," remarked Elsa, thinking back to those nights long ago when they still shared the nursery. "Mama used to say your children were going to sleep even less than you."

"Well, I'd like to apologize for that now, though I think it's too late." She yawned again, hand shooting up to cover her mouth in an attempt to appear at least a little more ladylike.

The three walked up the staircase together, bidding each other a good night before going separate ways.


	5. Chapter 5

Three months passed with very little excitement or any occurrences out of the ordinary. The beautiful Arendelle summer faded into autumn, though it was looking to be short-lived as the temperatures started to plummet faster than anticipated. They hadn't received more than flurries or an extremely light dusting in terms of snow cover yet, but signs pointed to a cold winter approaching.

For Elsa, this meant ensuring that the kingdom was prepared, and what couldn't be produced or commissioned internally had to be traded for. Fortunately, she'd been working on updated trade agreements with foreign partners since the summer, but it had involved her working closely with the Minister of Coin and Petter, whose transition did not feel as smooth as she had hoped.

The council met every other week, to give each time to correspond with relevant outside parties and report back on their area of expertise. As would be expected, some had busier times of year than others, but each had certain demands before winter started. Elsa was aware that the Naval Commander wasn't very pleased, as he had requested a commission of two new warships so that Arendelle's oldest pair could be retired. For a time of peace with very little perceived threat of war, Elsa had felt priorities would be better served if the focus of their resources was domestic.

She had her own reasons, though the comfort and safety of the people of Arendelle was first. Still, every time they received a particularly cold winter or a record snowfall, rumors started to spread and blame was ultimately placed on her, until the weather cleared up and even the suspicious people forgot about it. She was a well-loved queen by her people, but a kingdom's love for their monarch is always fragile.

But where she thought she had welcomed Petter to the council quite amicably, it felt as if tension was building with each meeting. There were times when his one-lined responses were bordering on rude, and she knew no other way to respond than by matching it. And to add to that, she was less than impressed by what he was bringing to the council table.

As a result of Ivar's departure and his appointment, she'd been working herself harder, keeping in touch and gathering information on her own about the surrounding kingdoms. Many times Petter presented exactly what she already knew, though there had also been a day where he'd left out a detail that she felt she needed to know. Fortunately, she'd already discovered it on her own. It wasn't personal, but she was annoyed that Petter expected her to simply sit back and place that much trust in him before she had seen enough proof that he was capable of doing his incredibly vital job.

The long extra hours didn't win her any favors with her family, either. Kristoff never said a word or seemed bothered, but she knew he wouldn't question her, and he had always been fairly understanding. Elsa had snapped at Anna one evening after her sister had nagged her over taking a break, and Elsa was still ashamed of herself. All was forgiven, and they were both well aware that they were bound to fight sometimes, but Elsa wanted to be finished hurting her sister.

It was with the weight of the last three months resting on her shoulders that she sat down for a council meeting. All but one council member were already present. Petter finally arrived a few minutes later, only a minute or two shy of being late. He offered Elsa a stiff bow before sitting down, slouching ever-so-slightly in the chair.

"Now that we're all here, gentlemen," Elsa began, shooting a pointed glance in Petter's direction. "Let's begin. I think I'd like to hear an update on the accounts before we start discussing anything else. Jens, how do we stand?"

The Minister of Coin spoke for a while, having just gone over an audit with the queen a few weeks earlier. After a discussion on agriculture and an update from the Commander of the Royal Guard, Elsa finally looked to Petter.

"We need to have a discussion on trade before we worry about anything else. Mr. Løvenskiold?"

Petter's eyes dropped to the table, observing the grain. Still a first name basis with everyone but him. After a moment, he glanced back up at the queen, putting on a somewhat forced smile "Perhaps you would like to go first, your majesty?"

Elsa fixed him with a disapproving gaze. His tone was worse than the last time. "Very well, if you're unprepared."

Elsa spoke for several minutes, never asking again for any input from Petter. When she finished, she directed the conversation to the Naval Commander. "I just don't see how we can commission two new ships this year, Commander. We've had too many expenses as it is. I can give you some extra funds for repairs on the current fleet, but I can't justify going into that much debt during a time of peace."

Petter cleared his throat. "It may be a time of peace, but surely her majesty didn't fail to notice the amount of steel and ammunition that Wesselton and the Southern Isles are purchasing during all of her research?"

Elsa, and every other advisor at the table for that matter, turned to look at him, eyes wide for a moment with shock. It wasn't for another moment that she realized how infuriated she was with the disrespect he'd just shown, and only then because a glance at her hands, palms resting flat on the top of the table, revealed the thin layer of ice creeping out from beneath them.

"You're dismissed." Her voice was low, but easily audible in the silence of the room. While remaining calm and collected, she fixed him with an icy gaze, watching as he finally sighed, standing and giving a stiff bow before exiting the room.

The meeting didn't last much longer. Whatever non-pressing issues weren't resolved before Petter had gone were simply going to have to wait until the next meeting. Elsa remained behind after the others had gone, flipping through the prepared documents of accounts and reports, trying to think of anything other than how angry she was with _him_.

He was standing by the door when she left, and she'd never wished so much to be invisible as in that moment.

"Your majesty—may I have a word?"

"No. You were dismissed, Mr. Løvenskiold."

"Your majesty, I—"

Was he really still there, _following_ her? She had yet to look at him since she left the room, but finally she turned. "You were dismissed, and you've been given direct orders to leave. If you don't leave at once, I will call the guards."

"Yes, your majesty." He held out several pieces of folded parchment. "Please just take this."

* * *

She opened the pages that night as she was working, curiosity getting the better of her. She was somewhat relieved to find Petter's report on the latest foreign correspondence. So the man had been prepared, but hadn't offered up the information during the meeting? As she flipped through the pages, scanning each one and stopping to read a few sections closely, she noticed that, while they were more detailed than her own in some areas, it was largely the same information she'd learned on her own. Save for one major portion.

He'd been correct about the recent spike in ammunition and steel seen in the imports abroad, and the fact that the two biggest offenders were countries with no alliance with Arendelle was admittedly a little unsettling. She cursed herself under her breath for missing something like that, but it had been an extremely busy fortnight with the work she and the Minister of Coin had been putting into checking accounts. It felt as if her nose had been permanently buried in a ledger for much of the time.

Even after taking a night to sleep on it, the question of whether or not she owed Petter an apology was still unanswered. By the next morning, she felt less angry over his display, but she still felt that she owed him nothing. He had been out of line with his handling of the entire situation.

She had her breakfast brought up to her room that morning, giving Gerda strict instructions that she wasn't to be disturbed and asking her to send word to the groom to have Simen tacked and ready in an hour. That morning, it wasn't to be a ride for pleasure. She had to ride out with Magnus to meet with the farmers that supplied the city and take stock.

By the time she had dressed, however, Gerda returned, bearing a letter from Magnus. "Your majesty, a servant just informed us that the Minister is taken ill this morning-nothing serious, but he's confined to the bed for several days on the orders of the court physician.

Elsa took the letter, opening it and reading much of the same in Magnus' words, with the added suggestion of either a reschedule for the following week or for her to go without him. For a brief moment, she considered going on her own, but decided against it. There was no need for her to go once and for him to go a second time.

"Would you like me to send word to the groom that you won't be going out this morning, your majesty?" questioned Gerda, noticing the queen's hesitation. "It's quite a lovely morning, ma'am."

"Is it?" Elsa moved to glance out the window. She hadn't even thought to look all morning, other than to see it wasn't raining.

"It is, ma'am."

Elsa sighed. It really was a beautiful morning, and she had been looking forward to getting out of the castle for a few hours. Still, it felt irresponsible when there was other work she could be using the time to complete.

"And, if it's not too bold to say, you already have the morning blocked off," Gerda reminded her with an encouraging glance.

Elsa took a moment to pause, debating. While it was true that she could use the time, she had the evening to finish everything. And if she just went for a short outing...

"Thank you, Gerda. I think I'll just go for a short while."

"Very good, ma'am." The older housekeeper gave her an almost maternal smile before politely curtseying and leaving Elsa's room.

Elsa wasted no time from there, arriving at the stable in enough time to see the groom fastening the last buckle on Simen's bridle. He glanced up, looking somewhat surprised to see her looking rather informal. He glanced once between her and the horse, having just finished plaiting the forelock and tail as he did each time the queen took the horse on any sort of business. Elsa, on the other hand, had foregone putting her hair up in a more formal style in favor of her long braid.

"Your majesty." He bowed, handing her the reins. "I thought—"

"I'm afraid there was a cancellation," she explained, understanding the source of his confusion. "But by the time I heard, I thought I may as well take him out, after you both went through the trouble."

"It wouldn't have been a problem, ma'am. Though I know he'll appreciate it." He gave the horse a quick pat before taking several steps back. It had been several weeks since Queen Elsa had been able to go for a ride. "Oh, and I put new shoes on those front hooves. The blacksmith used a lighter metal, so he's still getting used to them, but he should be fine to go as normal, ma'am."

"Thank you, Jan."

The groom bowed before picking up a lead rope and retrieving another horse and leading him out to have a few hours turned out. Elsa tied Simen to a post as she pulled her riding gloves out, preparing to slip them on. Just before she did, Petter stepped out of a stall, looking surprised to face the queen. Elsa was sure her expression matched his equally.

"Your majesty," he said quietly, bowing his head.

"Mr. Løvenskiold," she answered coldly. He'd been allowed to keep his horse at the stable after the room insisted that it was creating no extra work for him, but Elsa was regretting that decision.

"Did you have a chance to look over those pages I gave you?" His confidence was returning, and Elsa was sure that she didn't like where this was going. She hadn't expected to have this discussion with him so soon.

"I did, actually. And while I thank you for providing it, I haven't changed my decision. I think you would agree with me that this isn't working."

"I don't believe I was entirely clear on the expectations of my role."

Elsa paused, her irritation growing. "I thought it was rather self-explanatory. Especially after the discussion you and I had before you'd even attended a council meeting."

"With all due respect, I wasn't expecting you to be doing my job as well. It doesn't seem like I'm of much use."

_Were much use_ , Elsa thought. She had no intentions of dealing with him further. She raised an eyebrow, glancing at him incredulously. " _That's_ your concern?" His mannerisms for the last three months had been the result of being offended that she was keeping up with things as well? "That I was ensuring nothing important was passed over?"

"But it _was_ passed over."

Elsa's irritation was swiftly changing over to anger. "No, it _wasn't_. You caught it. That's why someone in your position sits on the council. Trust me, sometimes I would like to be capable of doing everything, but I have other duties to attend to as well." She turned back towards her horse, trying to end the conversation there. "Now, if you'll excuse me—"

"Your majesty—"

He'd reached out a hand, which brushed against her forearm, and in a moment of surprise (she was the _queen_ —no one just reached out to _touch_ her), she jerked her arm away, turning on the spot to face him again. As she'd pulled her arm away, a short burst of ice shot from her fingertips, though it crumbled in the air before falling onto the paving stones like sleet. Elsa took a step back, shocked and angry eyes falling to Petter. Anyone who made her lose any control over her powers was not going to earn any favors.

Petter looked surprised as well, though he hadn't jumped back or moved from the spot where he'd been standing. He looked down to the crumbled ice on the ground, then back at the queen.

"Get out."

Petter didn't move.

"If you're going to look at me like some sort of _monster_ —"

"I'm not." His voice was stern but sounded sincere enough, the arrogance seemingly gone from his eyes, replaced by... Was it _awe_? She couldn't tell. "This was the first time I've seen your magic."

The word he chose gave Elsa pause. Most people referred to her ability as powers, but he'd called it magic. A part of her almost wanted to be sure that he knew what she was capable of, but more than that, she felt some relief in the fact that he called it magic. That's what Anna had always called it, from the time they were little and beyond, once she'd rediscovered it. Powers were menacing and dangerous, but magic suggested levity, goodness, and at least the potential for beauty. Anna and Kristoff were the ones that found it beautiful. There were days when even Elsa still thought of it as a curse.

"It's not a parlor trick," she told him, her look still severe and her tone serious, but lighter than before.

"It's incredible," he started, awestruck.

Elsa raised an eyebrow. "That's not what most people say at first."

"They're idiots."

He seemed so genuine, but Elsa couldn't help but have a difficult time believing it. She could tell there was more he wanted to say, but was holding back. He'd want to see more, of course, but she'd just snapped at him that it wasn't a parlor trick, and it wasn't. She did use her powers for others' enjoyment, but that was to give relief on particularly hot days in the summer or playing with her niece and nephew. While Elsa never wanted to hide them or deny that they existed, she had learned over the years to not to let them be a spectacle.

"Have you always been able to do that?"

She nodded. "As long as I can remember."

He was shifting, looking hesitant, as if he was about to ask another question.

Elsa sighed, holding up a hand, palm pointed toward the ceiling as a small flurry of snowflakes rose from the tips of her fingers, floating for a moment before falling to the ground and melting. Petter was smiling.

"What?" she questioned, somewhat confused over his expression.

"It's just… I've never seen anything like it before. I've never seen real magic before, for that matter."

"You… You did _know_ , didn't you?" She had to question it. It seemed unlikely given the fact that every kingdom was apparently aware of the Snow Queen Elsa of Arendelle, but he seemed surprised.

"Oh, yes. Yes, of course. I was told. But I didn't—"

"Didn't really believe it?" The corners of her lips turned up in the slightest smile.

"I didn't know what to believe," he said, shrugging with a laugh. "I'm sorry, do you mind talking about it?"

She shook her head. "No, I don't mind." Ten years ago, despite her yearning to talk about it, it would have been a very different answer. She glanced at him curiously, rather surprised that he seemed so keen on reaching out to discuss it. Most people were at least a little afraid, and in their fear of her powers and her status as queen, they were too intimidated to attempt a discussion.

But Petter seemed to have forgotten that he was speaking to a queen, or at least he had until the sound of the clock tower bells striking nine reminded them both where they were. Simen tossed his head impatiently, tugging at the reins in Elsa's hand as if to get her attention.

"I have to go." Elsa reached up to give the horse a pat on the neck, pulling on the reins to lead him towards the mounting block and slipping her riding gloves on.

"Your majesty, would you consider going for a ride with me?"

Without saying a word, she turned to look at him, as if seeking some further explanation.

"I never saw much other than the city over the past few months," he shrugged, watching her with a hopeful smile.

Elsa sighed, giving it a moment's thought. At least he wasn't being arrogant enough to act like she would change her mind on the dismissal. She wasn't entirely sure if he deserved one last chance yet.

"I suppose." She flipped the reins back over Simen's neck, stepping up to the mounting block and grabbing the pommel of the saddle. In one graceful movement, she pulled herself up and into a comfortable position before urging the horse forward a few steps. Petter had already mounted, forgoing the block. Elsa resisted the urge to roll her eyes, and instead started off toward the gates.

Once they were outside the castle walls and there was room, he moved his horse out from behind to position himself beside of her.

"So are the rumors of the ice palace true?"

"What's the rumor claiming? Yes, there's an ice palace in the mountains," she explained, looking over at him curiously. "But it's not like it's used for anything. It's just... There."

"I heard it was guarded by snow monsters," Petter added, tone suggesting that he didn't believe them.

"Snow monsters? No. More like talking snowmen," she chuckled, amused by his disbelief. "They aren't there to guard it. It's their home now."

"How many?"

"Two."

"Can I see?"

"You don't believe me?"

He laughed. "I do, but I'm having a difficult time imagining it. I've never believed in much of anything."

"I used to not, either," she replied, her grin fading a little.

"I don't see how, when you could do magic."

"It wasn't easy. I wanted to be normal."

Petter scoffed. "I hope you don't anymore. There's not much pleasure in being unremarkable."

"Better than being remarkable and hurting people," she muttered.

"What do you mean?"

"It's nothing," she quickly muttered. She was enjoying his curiosity and the fact that he was quite possibly the only person she'd met that seemed brave enough to start questioning her about her powers so soon, but there were limits. And what happened with Anna when they were children and during the Great Freeze was her limit. "You can't possibly be saying that a lifetime of travel makes for an unremarkable existence."

"Oh, I didn't say I was unremarkable now," Petter said, giving her a grin and raising a brow. Under his tone, though, he seemed unconvinced, and the statement felt more sarcastic than anything. "But before all of that, you know, there just wasn't much to anything. I know I shouldn't complain. Father was wealthy. He had a peerage. We were lucky."

"But?" It was her turn to ask the questions.

Petter shrugged. "My mother died when my brother and I were young. Well, I say young—I mean, we _were_ , considering, but I was eight and my brother was thirteen, so it isn't as if we didn't get a chance to know her. It took its toll on my father."

"I'm sorry. I know what it's like to lose someone."

He looked slightly ashamed. "It must have been worse, losing both of your parents at once."

Elsa glanced away, memories of her parents flooding back, but also thinking of Petter's situation. She couldn't bear the thought of watching her father grieve for her mother. They had loved each other far too much. Perhaps it was better that they went together.

Of course, she didn't really know what happened, she reminded herself. There was a storm. The ship was lost. The only evidence left behind had been debris found from the ship. She didn't know if it was quick, or drawn out, or how afraid they were, or if one had to watch the other die first. Twelve years later, and it was no easier to think about than it had been at the time. She'd spent so many weeks in denial. _The ship was just blown off course. There must be some mistake. They'll be home soon, it's just a little longer than two weeks._ But of course they never came home.

"I don't know if it was." She couldn't discuss it further. By then, they were on the main road outside the city, and she urged Simen up into a trot.

Petter, having been glancing off at the fjord at the time, was a few steps behind her, though his horse caught up. "Will you show me the ice palace?"

Elsa shook her head. "It's too far to go there today. I have to be back this afternoon." She watched him curiously for a moment. "The cliffs along the fjord have the best views if it's scenery you want."

As they turned onto the road winding along the fjord, he shot her a cavalier grin before urging his horse faster and into a gallop. Elsa was about to protest, but her pride got the better of her. That and Simen, used to being in the lead, decided to follow of his own accord. He eventually found himself ahead, his slightly longer legs holding an advantage over Petter's horse, though Elsa was admittedly somewhat glad when the horses started tiring and they slowed them back to a walk.

"You wanted a view, and I guarantee you didn't really see anything."

"I'll look on the way back," grinned Petter.

"You're impossible."

They were silent for a while after that, each admiring their surroundings until Elsa could feel Simen's gait growing increasingly abnormal. She gently urged him up into a trot for a few strides, but he started tossing his head whenever his weight was placed on his front left hoof.

"Stop," she called out, sliding off the horse.

Petter pulled his to a stop, turning to see what the problem was. "What's wrong?"

"I think my horse is lame," she said, leaning down to check the apparent problematic leg. "He's thrown a shoe."

"He's probably just not used to the feeling," Petter offered, thinking aloud as he dismounted and stepped closer. "It could be a bruise on the hoof, though."

Elsa lifted the hoof to examine it, but there were no visible stones embedded or any physical evidence that something was wrong except for the missing shoe. She couldn't help but regret not having more knowledge about this issue. She'd read books about riding technique, but the care part had always been left to the groom's expertise.

From what she did know, however, lameness was nothing to shrug off. A horse was nothing without its feet.

"Do you know anything about horses?"

"Some," replied Petter, watching as Simen pulled his hoof out of Elsa's hands, stomping it down on the soft ground with a thud. "It's probably a bruise. Is he normally picky about his hooves being picked up?"

"No... I don't know—the groom usually takes care of him. But the few times I have, he's been fine."

"Well he can't be ridden—"

"Yes, I do know that much." She hadn't entirely meant to snap at him, but she was frustrated, and more than a little concerned. Not to mention, they were several miles out of Arendelle. She could walk fast, but leading her horse that wasn't particularly fond of hurrying when he was walking would take longer. At this point, she was likely to miss at least the first thing she had scheduled for the afternoon.

Petter turned his horse around. "He'll be fine. We'll lead him back—"

"No, you should ride back to Arendelle and send the groom back. Then you can let one of the staff at the castle know I'll be late." She hated people who were late, and for a _queen_... It was so unregal.

Petter looked at her as if she'd just been speaking another language. "I'm not leaving you up here alone." He started walking, leading his own horse.

She turned to look at him, a little surprised by his refusal. She very nearly laughed. "What do you think is going to happen that I can't handle?" Did she really need to remind him that she had ice powers? There was a reason why she refused to have guards escorting her everywhere outside the castle as most royals would.

He still shook his head. "I don't think so."

"I gave you an order." Her bewildered amusement was turning into irritation.

"You dismissed me."

Elsa scoffed. "You want to have this discussion now?"

"Why not?"

She turned to glare at him, but he didn't seem to be actively intending rudeness. "Gods..." she muttered under her breath. "I thought you would be pleased with dismissal. It certainly didn't seem like you were enjoying your new appointment."

"No, I wasn't enjoying it, but... I want to serve you. And Arendelle."

"Why?"

He almost looked like he was going to say something, but after a moment's pause and gathering his thoughts he spoke. "Our kingdoms have been allies for a long time, and we owe everything to Arendelle. Your grandfather saved our kingdom during the war."

And lost his life, Elsa wanted to say, but she couldn't hold that against him and she certainly held no grudge against his kingdom. She'd never met her grandfather, but she had the diaries he'd kept, passed down to her from her father along with his own as a gift from one ruler to another. From his portrait, he'd looked so much like her father, but she also saw many of Anna's features. She had a feeling she would have loved him, just like Anna's children would have loved their grandfather.

"But?" She stared straight ahead, not turning her head to look at him as they walked along, their horses' hoofbeats filling the gaps of silence.

"But I don't know how to work where I'm not trusted," he said, sounding somewhat pained to admit it. "And I don't feel trusted."

"You can't just demand that I trust you. It doesn't happen like that. I don't know what it was like as an ambassador, but the stakes are higher now."

"I understand that, but I'm not going to fail you."

"You simply telling me that doesn't automatically fill me with confidence in you. Look, beyond that," she replied, wanting to touch more on the bigger problem. "Your sense of decorum is lacking." Finally, she'd said it.

Petter actually laughed—not a cruel one, but one of general amusement. "My decorum?"

"Your behavior in the council meeting yesterday, for one. But I can't pass it off as a one-off. You were rude the first day we met."

He took a moment to consider this, but seemed to realize what she meant about the first day. "No, I have no excuse for that—And I am sorry. Truly." He turned to look at her, waiting for her to make eye contact. "When I get frustrated, things just sort of... Slip out. I say things I don't mean or people think I'm trying to be cruel when I'm not. It's a fault of mine, I'll admit."

"It seems like the wrong fault for someone in diplomacy to have."

"It is, but I've done good work despite it." He shrugged. "At least, I haven't caused any wars. I don't want to, trust me. Being the younger son of a noble, the logical step for me was to be a naval officer." It was the unspoken rule. The first son was the heir, the second was a military officer, and a third joined the clergy. "I even studied military tactics for years, but as luck would have it, I'm here instead." Seeming to realize he was rambling, he stopped himself. "I swear it won't happen again."

"I'll admit your references were good, but..." She was hesitant. She did need an advisor. As she'd already explained to him on why she made a mistake, she couldn't do everything, but she wasn't ready to just turn it over completely to Petter without checking. And he was no good at all if he couldn't find a little decorum. "I'm not ready to trust you completely. I'm still going to check in on foreign affairs for a while, to the best of my ability. But if I give you one last chance, can we agree that I'll pretend I haven't been checking in, unless you leave something out that I saw?"

Petter nodded. "That would be entirely fair." As if he realized once more who he was talking to, he added, "Your majesty."

Elsa smirked, her eyes rolling slightly. "Now. _Please_ ride back to Arendelle. Have the groom bring an extra horse for me. I'll miss lunch, but I could make it back in time for my duties."

"I'm sorry, but no. I'm still not leaving the Queen of Arendelle alone out here, ice powers or not."

She was about to snap at him, turning towards him with a glare, but he cut her off.

"I _will_ , however, walk with your horse while you take mine back to Arendelle." He noticed her skeptic glance. "Reidar's a great horse. I'd trust him with my life." Noticing her expression, he continued. "Please don't look at me like that—I'd say the exact same thing to you if you were a king."

After the last remark, she gave an exasperated sigh. "Fine."

They exchanged their horses' reins, Elsa taking Reidar's. She tossed them back over the horse's head, moving to his side to grab the pommel of the saddle.

"Do you need help?"

Elsa shot him a slight glare, pulling herself up as gracefully as she could. "He's not as tall as mine," she remarked stubbornly as she started adjusting his stirrups to fit her legs, which were shorter than Petter's, who had a few inches' height advantage. Glancing over once she'd finished, she noticed him giving Simen a gentle rub on the nose.

"He's pretty easy-going. Take care of him, okay?"

"He'll be fine. Simen, right?" He watched her give a small nod. "Feel free to take Reidar as fast as you want. He's in good shape and he's used to it, now that he's had a bit of a rest."

She reached down to give the horse a pat on the neck. "Thank you. Don't worry—I won't push him too hard."

"Oh, and don't fall off."

"You're not starting your last chance off on a very good note," she quipped, but the playful smirk on her face before she started off was enough to prove that it was a lie.


	6. Chapter 6

After six weeks, Elsa and Petter stuck to their agreement. Elsa continued to give herself extra work, but for three meetings, there was nothing that she had found on her own that Petter had not. Petter, much to her relief, had been nothing but tactful, respectful, and professional.

Simen had turned out fine too, of course. A week of rest, a repaired shoe, and extra care from the groom, and he was back to normal.

The weather, however, was turning out to be far more unpredictable. The first frost came early, and Elsa was relieved that the harvests that hadn't been brought in weren't badly damaged. Fortunately, the snows seemed to be holding off, despite the plunging temperatures. It gave everyone a chance to get prepared, and they were able to get their tradable goods out and their partners' goods in before sailing conditions started to become a little too dangerous.

They seemed to have enough for the winter, but Elsa worked tirelessly with the Ministers of Coin and Agriculture to devise a rationing plan among the merchants, who were none too pleased at first with the ideas of limiting their sales, but it was for the best, especially if very loose rations could be implemented without having to make a royal decree and sending the citizens into a panic.

One night two weeks after that, she was sleeping soundly in her bed, not noticing the little footsteps running over to her bed until a pair of knees were pressing into her back and someone was pushing on her shoulders.

"Aunt Elsa? Wake up, wake up, _wake up_!" came the excited whisper of a little girl, and she shaking continued.

"Anna..." muttered Elsa, dazed and disoriented from sleep.

" _Astrid_!" the little girl giggled, thinking her aunt was teasing her.

Finally, Elsa rolled over and pushed herself up on her elbows, squinting in the darkness through heavy eyes at her niece. The girl's blonde hair was almost the only thing visible, catching the little bit of light streaming in through the window. "What's wrong? Did you have another bad dream?"

"No! Come see, come see! It's _snowing_!"

She wasn't sure how much Astrid remembered of the last winter, but she'd seen Elsa's snow a few times since, when she and Anna had played with them in the empty great hall.

Elsa slipped out from under the covers, moving over to take a seat in the window. Astrid climbed up after her, sitting in her lap as Elsa wrapped an arm around her and they looked out. Elsa could barely make out the falling snowflakes in the light pouring out from the few still candlelit windows, but in what little moonlight was streaming through the clouds, she could tell the ground was already getting whiter. Winter had arrived, and with it came a mixture of excitement and anxiety for Elsa.

On the one hand, she had to love the winter. It was cliché, but it was her element. However, no one else had the same immunity to the cold as she did, though there were times that Anna would remark that Kristoff did. As she'd grown older, she could understand why her parents hadn't always enjoyed the season, especially when she became queen and had to ensure that the kingdom would be warm and well fed.

"Aunt Elsa?"

"Hmm?"

"Can we go build a snowman?"

Elsa laughed. "I don't think there's enough out there yet."

"But you can make more!"

"You don't want to wait for tomorrow with your mama and brother?"

Astrid turned around to look up at Elsa wrinkling her nose and shaking her head. "We can play with them tomorrow _and_ go now."

Elsa sighed, glancing out the window again. She was so tired, but she often felt bad about how little time she really had to devote to the children. She'd promised herself that she would always make time, though the middle of the night hadn't really been what she'd had in mind.

"Aunt Elsa?"

"Why don't you go get a _warm_ coat, a hat, mittens, and boots, and bring them back here? I'll help you put them on and we can go out—just for a little while."

The little girl didn't need to be told twice.

* * *

Elsa was the last down to breakfast the next morning. Anna, Kristoff, and the children were already there, and everyone was nearly halfway finished. The queen managed to catch one of the staff as she walked in. "Coffee, please," she requested quietly.

"Yes, your majesty."

Stifling a yawn, she prepared her own plate from the trays that had been brought up from the kitchens and left on a server behind the table.

As soon as she'd taken her seat, Anna glanced over at her with wide eyes. "We're going out after this. D'you want to come?"

"Of course—I just have a few things to take care of this morning first." She glanced out the window. "It's accumulating quickly."

"You should see the garden, then," Anna replied with a knowing smile. "It must have had snow blow in. Complete with a snowman."

Elsa grinned, her tired blue eyes lighting up at the memory of the night before. Just then, Kai brought a silver pot in to the dining room, setting it down with a fresh cup near Elsa.

"Your coffee, ma'am."

"Thank you." She poured a cup, feeling the warmth of the steam on her cold hands. She may have been immune to the cold, but heat was a different story, and she had to set the cup aside for a few moments to let it cool down to a more manageable temperature than it was.

"Well, Kristoff's going to take the children out on the sled for a little while. We can go out when they get back.

Elsa glanced curiously at her sister as she poked at the food on her plate. "You're not going with them?"

Anna shook her head. "I'll leave them to their fun. Kristoff would only get mad at me for scuffing it," she said, leaning over to give her husband a playful kiss on the cheek.

"Ten years later..." he grumbled, smirking.

"You'll never live it down, Kristoff. She still remembers me ripping her toy bear when she was four," Elsa cut in, laughing at the expression Anna gave her.

Kristoff, finished eating by then, finally stood. "I'll have them back before lunch," he explained, leaning down to kiss Anna on the cheek before turning to the children, who were by then arguing quietly between one another about something. "Ready?"

Their faces lit up with excitement, and they jumped up from the table, rushing over to the door where the governess was waiting with their winter cloaks and hats.

Once it was only Anna and Elsa left, it was Anna who spoke first. "What time did Astrid wake you up last night?"

Elsa smirked. "I don't know. There wasn't much snow then. Probably around one."

"You _can_ tell her 'no,' you know."

Elsa shrugged, shooting a guilty glance at her sister. "I'm sorry. I made her wear warm clothes, but I understand if you don't think it's a good idea..."

"Oh, no—I'm not mad!" Anna quickly corrected. "If you feel up to it, by all means. Heaven knows we survived it."

Anna was smiling warmly, but the comment made Elsa frown slightly. Yes, they had survived it, but barely. No matter how many years passed, Elsa was always going to remember how close she had come to killing her own sister when she was eight. If her powers had struck Anna only a matter of inches lower...

"Hey, hey—Elsa, it's okay," Anna reached out a hand to take her slightly panicked-looking sister's. "I'm sorry, I didn't think..."

"No, you're fine, I just—I'm being ridiculous."

"They _adore_ you, Elsa. And they won't think any less of you if you don't get up in the middle of the night to build a snowman." She gave Elsa's hand a light squeeze. "But I can't tell you how much it means that you'd even consider it."

"Of course I'd consider it. I _want_ to." Elsa hoped it was obvious. "Everything's just been so busy lately. I know I haven't been there as much, for them or for you."

"Elsa, we understand. I promise," Anna reassured her. "But... Now that it's winter, does that mean you'll have more time?" She looked hopeful.

"I hope so."

"Good. But, you know, no pressure. Queenly things take time, I know."

Elsa laughed. No matter how old they got, some things about Anna luckily never changed.

"Oh, I keep bumping into that new advisor of yours."

"Really?" Elsa raised a brow, a little surprised.

"He's been trying to get his bearings around Arendelle. Once he was coming here to use the big library, though."

"Is he polite?" Elsa smirked, taking a sip of coffee.

"Yeah, and he always asks about you."

"Me?!"

"Mhmm."

"Well, what do you tell him?"

"Nothing, really—just that you're fine and all that. It's kind of sweet of him."

Elsa merely shrugged.

"What are you working on this morning?"

"Some letters and going over the trade accounts one more time. Why?"

"Is there anything I can help you with?"

Elsa smiled warmly. "Yes. You can keep me company."

The morning passed, the castle oddly silent except for the servants bustling about, tending to the fires and cleaning the rooms seldom used during the day. Anna stayed with Elsa all morning in the study, the sisters talking briefly about the current affairs of Arendelle, but Anna mostly keeping silent with a book between the fire and Elsa's desk.

Kristoff returned just before noon with the children, who professed to not be at all bothered by the cold, despite their rosy cheeks and chattering teeth. Anna interrogated Kristoff about the amount of time they were actually wearing their scarves, of course, but it seemed no harm had been done. By the time they had eaten lunch and warmed back up, they were begging to go out again.

This time, everyone was fetching winter clothes—save for Elsa, though she compromised with a cloak so the children wouldn't argue so much about the number of layers Anna was wrapping them in.

Ever since the terrible freeze, Anna had been more sensitive to the cold. She tried to pretend it wasn't the case for Elsa's sake, but other than finding herself getting cold faster, there didn't seem to be any other detrimental effects.

The five of them headed outside, the children running out first into the courtyard. After a while, the children were distracted after Rolf pelted Astrid with a snowball. Following her retaliation, the battle had begun.

Without completely planning it, Kristoff and Rolf found themselves pitted against the girls. Rolf, of course, protested. "It's not fair, they've got Aunt Elsa!"

She tried to play fair, mostly keeping to the sidelines, watching and laughing. Anna had snow in her hair and a dusting covering her cloak, mostly from Rolf. It wasn't until Elsa felt a snowball thrown by Kristoff crash into the side of her face that Elsa got involved, chucking one twice the size at her brother-in-law.

It was short-lived, however, as Elsa noticed a familiar face walking through the edge of the courtyard, attempting to keep out of the way.

"Mr. Løvenskiold?"

"Your majesty," Petter bowed. After the morning they'd gone for a ride, he'd returned to formalities.

"I'm surprised to see you here."

"I needed to use the big library, if it's fine with you, ma'am."

"Of course." There were two libraries, though Elsa used the smaller of the two for her study, but she made the large library on the ground floor open and available to members of the council. Her more precious books were kept upstairs in her study.

"I apologize, I didn't mean to interrupt your time with your family, ma'am," he said, glancing over at Kristoff, Anna, and the children. He'd yet to meet Rolf or Astrid, but he'd seen them from afar passing through the castle. Besides that, it was obvious that they were part of the royal family.

"It's no trouble. I'm just surprised to see you working. The first snow is usually the exciting one," she explained with a warm smile. "It gets old after a fortnight."

"Well, it was a good excuse to go for a walk, ma'am." He gave her a warm smile, then seemed to notice the red patch on her cheek from where Kristoff's snowball made contact a few minutes before. "Are you oka—"

Elsa saw him gently raise his hand, moving it carefully towards her cheek, and instinctively turned her head away, glaring at him for a moment out of the corner of her eye. "I'm _fine_."

"I'm sorry, I wasn't going to—" he stammered, hand dropping to his side, and his gaze following. "Can we meet soon, ma'am? I've been looking into the foreign trades, and I think you should see something." He glanced back over at her family before continuing. "It doesn't have to be today, I realize you're busy with your family, but perhaps soon?"

"You're going to the library, yes? I'll meet you in there in an hour. At the rate they're going, we'll need to go inside to warm up soon anyway." There was little emotion in her tone, until the mention of her family.

Petter nodded, then gave an involuntary shiver. "Aren't you cold, your majesty?"

Elsa shook her head, a slight smile returning. "Perks of my 'gift.'"

He shook his head, clearly impressed. "Then I envy you."

"Go warm up. If you ask very nicely, I'm sure one of the staff will make you some coffee."

"Thank you very much, your majesty." He smiled before bowing again and departing for the warmth of the castle.

Elsa watched him, barely shaking her head in disbelief at his unfailing amazement over her powers. Most people would have gotten used to it by then, or at least pretended to.

As agreed, she met him an hour later, snowflakes still in her hair.

"I hope I'm not keeping you," she told him, noticing him replacing a book he'd been using.

"No, no—not at all, your majesty." Petter looked at her for a moment before turning back to the small desk where he'd been working. "Here, I've got everything written up in my ledger…" He fumbled with a leather-bound book, bits of ribbons sticking out from various pages as bookmarks and pages looking bent from being dog-eared. "Here, this is the page I wanted you to see."

Elsa walked over, standing next to Petter and picking up his ledger. "Gods..."

"Other kingdoms are responding to Wesselton and the Southern Isles. They're investing heavily in their militaries."

"But these kingdoms are larger than Arendelle."

"Well, except for Falken."

"But Falken imposes a much higher tax on its people for a lot less in return," replied Elsa, looking for any justification. "They spend outrageously on their naval ships."

"They do, but they're quite vulnerable and they've had a history of aggression towards them, so I can't really blame them for wanting a strong military."

"No, but it's not the same for Arendelle. We haven't been at war since my grandfather was king." She took another look, glancing back over the kingdoms. "Besides, we're not as vulnerable geographically—"

"You don't think it would be simple for a strong navy to blockade the fjord and cut Arendelle off from any incoming supplies?"

"Are they going to take the risk of being frozen in the fjord?"

"I don't know. I would hope not. But these figures are worrisome, nonetheless."

Elsa sighed. "I agree. And we need to respond to it as well, though I'm afraid it will be a game of who can collect the most ammunition and the most advanced weapons to intimidate other kingdoms the furthest."

"I fear the opposite more, your majesty."

"So you think war is inevitable?"

"Wesselton and the Southern Isles are sending ambassadors to Lubeck. Apparently there are other kingdoms on the continent that are meeting with them as well. They're forging alliances, you can be sure."

"You're sure? It's not just a—I don't know, a trade summit?"

"I don't believe so."

"And where did you hear this?" She had to be skeptical. There was no way she was going to put her kingdom in danger on the word of one person.

"These letters arrived from the Vestfold the other day." He reached into the pocket of his jacket, pulling out several letters. "They're a bit cryptic, I'm afraid, but it was necessary, considering the content. The information comes directly from the Spymaster. I also understand the king would like to hold a similar summit among monarchs, especially for the northern kingdoms. Some in the south are allies too, though. Corona, for one. It will have to wait for spring, of course. Travel's too dangerous now with the winter."

_Spring isn't exactly ideal for travel conditions, either_ , Elsa thought to herself, but kept silent on that matter. She took the letters, scanning them for a moment. "If the Vestfold holds one, I'll attend on behalf of Arendelle. And in the meantime… I need to discuss this with the Commanders. If it has to be done, I'm not raising taxes until the winter passes, though. I don't see the need in expanding our military resources to the same extent as Falken, but we'll be prepared."

"I think that's a wise decision, your majesty."

Elsa dropped her gaze, noticing a copy of The Prince shoved off to the side of the desk. "Brushing up on your flattery, then?"

He looked genuinely confused, until she reached over to pick up the book. At that point, confusion appeared to morph into a mild panic. "Oh—no, your majesty, that's—that's not mine. It was already sitting here—"

Elsa grinned, holding up a hand to interrupt him. "It's fine—even if you were reading it. If it isn't yours, Rolf probably picked it up and was sorely disappointed that it wasn't a fairy tale." She grinned. "I just thought it was a bit funny. Especially since you've mostly been on your best behavior."

"I read it when I was eighteen and I don't think I care to read it again," he responded with a short laugh, though his face lit up at the compliment.

"Well, I was fifteen. But I had the same reaction. The trick is to read it as satire."

"Fifteen?" He shook his head. "Well, better you than me."

"I had nothing better to do," she laughed.

"Anything is better than that."

"Are you not a reader?"

"I am, actually. With strong opinions on most of what I read, obviously."

"Well, the library's at your disposal. It's not all business and politics, of course."

"Thank you. That's very generous. I think I've nearly gone through everything I have." He shrugged, grinning. "And most of those I'd already read once."

Elsa walked over to one of the shelves, picking up a rather large book. "Here—I recommend this one."

Petter took it, flipping through the pages for a moment. "Thank you."

"It may not be to your taste—"

"If you've recommended it, I'm sure it will be. And if all else fails, we can argue about why I don't like it." He grinned, meeting her gaze. To his delight, the queen looked amused.

"Princess Anna tells me she's seen you out quite a lot lately. Are you feeling more at home yet in Arendelle?"

"Some. I've been trying to get out more," he laughed. "I think every time I do, I see Princess Anna."

"You've been coming here a lot to work. You know you can take things home, don't you? All I ask if that you write it down in the ledger."

"Thank you, but I'm alright. I find that I tend to think better if I separate home and work."

Elsa smiled. "There are days that I'd envy you for having that option."

"If the day ever comes, you can come to mine," he said. "We can simply trade off."

Elsa only laughed, though there was a certain look of longing. Honestly, there were days when she would give anything to just work, with no distractions, and nothing else to attend to. She could inform the servants that she wasn't to be disturbed, but there was always commotion in the castle and either Kai or Gerda usually found something "urgent" enough to interrupt.

"I should go," Elsa finally said, quiet.

Petter nodded. "Thank you for meeting with me today."

"Well, thank you for being so thorough. I'll need you to meet with me and the Commanders again, if you don't mind. We'll need to discuss plans of actions, and the economic side of it as well."

"Of course. Any time that's convenient for you."

"Thank you, Petter."

He smiled, noticing the use of his first name. "Queen Elsa."

* * *

The snow continued to fall well into the evening, though it finally tapered off to a few flurries by the time night fell. Elsa, admittedly exhausted from the day, had retired to her room shortly after dinner had been cleared. After about an hour, Anna crept in, candle in hand.

"Elsa, it's _freezing_ in here!"

"Oh, sorry... " She glanced over at the fire, which had been reduced to only a few logs. It just seemed pointless to waste much firewood on her room.

With a shiver, Anna set the candle down on the nightstand opposite Elsa, picking up a wool blanket that had been left by the servants on a chest at the foot of the bed and wrapping it around her shoulders. Without bothering to notice that Elsa had a bottle of ink balanced precariously on a book on the bed and a quill in hand, Anna flopped down next to her sister.

Almost on instinctive impulse, Elsa threw her hand out and the bottle of ink was frozen to the book before it could spill out onto the bedding. "Anna!" she cried in exasperation.

"Sorry! Sorry. I—I didn't see..." Anna quickly apologized, dejected.

"Oh, Anna..." Elsa felt terrible. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to snap at you."

"No—I should have noticed you were working. I didn't look."

Elsa sighed, giving her sister an apologetic glance. Anna never did look, but Elsa knew that, and she couldn't blame Anna for it, even if it did frustrate her from time to time. "Really, please don't worry about it. No harm done, see?" She picked up the frozen bottle of ink and placed it on the bedside table next to her, unfreezing it in the process.

Anna gave her sister a warm smile as Elsa set her work aside, then threw half the blanket over Elsa, snuggling next to her sister with a giggle.

"Are you warm enough?"

Anna nodded. "I am now."

"The children are asleep already?"

"Didn't even make it through one story. It was a miracle," Anna giggled.

Elsa grinned. "And Kristoff?"

"Checking on things at the stable," she explained with a scoff. "It's not even snowing anymore."

"It sounds like the wind's picked up, though," Elsa noted with a glance toward the window. "Still, the stables are blocked off from the worst weather."

"He's got to have quality time with the reindeer," laughed Anna. "Sorry, were you trying to get work done?"

"Not really. I was just writing some things down so I'll have a record."

"Keeping a _diary_ , you mean," Anna corrected with a playful nudge. "It's cute. You can admit it."

"It's all business," Elsa laughed, nudging her sister back with her elbow. "It might be useful one day. Besides, I'll forget things if I don't."

"Is everything okay, Elsa? You seemed a little... I don't know—Distracted at dinner, I guess."

"What?" Elsa asked, confused. Of course, she had been distracted. At least a little bit. She hadn't expected it to be noticeable, though. "Yeah, of course everything's fine. I'm just tired."

She didn't know if she wanted to explain the budding threat of war when she wasn't completely sure if anything would happen. Who was going to declare war on the Ice Queen of Arendelle, after all? The Southern Isles and Wesselton had already had their taste of her powers.

Anna gave her a concerned look, but Elsa couldn't help but think she was about to start one of her "you have to work less" talks.

"Before you say anything, it's fine. Really. Everything's going to be slowing down now that winter's properly here." She snuggled further down into the blankets, laying her head back on her pillow. "How did the children like the snow?" she asked, more than eager to change the subject.

Anna grinned, sliding further down the bed so she could lay her head on a pillow as well. "Oh, they loved it! Kristoff took them up into the foothills on the sled this morning. It's so beautiful in the snow. And I loved our time in the courtyard. It reminded me of when we were little."

"Me too," Elsa said, smiling sleepily, her eyes too heavy to keep open any longer. She couldn't stifle a yawn. "Sorry..."

"Don't be," giggled Anna, equally dreary-eyed. "Elsa?"

"Hmm?"

"I love you."

"I love you too, Anna."

"Elsa?"

"Yes?"

"Do you mind if I stay here for a while? It's too cold to walk over to the door," she giggled.

"No, I don't mind."

Anna started to speak again, but her sister was already asleep.


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for the feedback! Apologies for this being a short chapter, though I think it accomplished what I needed it to. I'd love to flesh it out further, but in the interest of keeping the momentum going toward the end game, it's easier to handle things this way. Because this is so short, chapter 8 will be up in the next couple of days. I really want to get started on 9, but it might be a bit delayed because work is crazy right now and I may be traveling for a few days at the end of the month. I'll do my best, though, because despite all the overtime exhaustion, non-work related writing is a sanity saver.

As winter wore on, it was obvious that the people of Arendelle were growing tired of it. They were hardy people, and they'd lived through many a snowy winter, but even they had their limits. After weeks without seeing the bare ground, the constant hauling of firewood would drain the spirits. No matter how prepared you were, it was still cold.

Once the excitement of Arendelle's annual midwinter festivities had worn off, life returned to normal. Where Elsa had enjoyed quite a bit of leisure time to spend with her family and on her own, duties started picking up once more as plans were made for early spring planting and Arendelle took another look at their store of goods that would theoretically last them the rest of the winter. And looming over her and almost every other council member was the growing threat of either war or heavily armed enemies.

She normally wouldn't have seen Petter very much during the period. Foreign relations were busiest by far during the summer, as travel was more frequent and it was a much busier time of the year for trade. During the winter, she hadn't seen Ivar all that much, with the exception of council meetings.

Petter, however, had been visiting often to use the library, and Elsa was surprised to find that she enjoyed seeing him. On days when she wasn't particularly pushed and could handle a distraction, she would work there as well. For a while, their discussions were centered completely around their work, but as he continued to borrow books from the Arendelle collections, many of them Elsa's suggestions, he started to bring his own recommendations for her. Some she hated (some he hated as well, and some he couldn't understand why she didn't like, but it always sparked an interesting discussion), and a few had become new favorites.

By the time he'd reached his six month mark since arriving in Arendelle, she had come to expect to see him regularly. It wouldn't be every day, but it didn't seem like he could go more than three days without making an appearance. She didn't see him every time he was there, but they usually met, either by accident or appointment, at least twice in a week.

For Elsa, the experience was a foreign one. She'd never had a friend before.

It seemed strange to think about, and perhaps she could have counted Kristoff, but Kristoff was family. Anna was family. While she had been hesitant to consider giving her relationship with Petter a name beyond acquaintance or simply advisor, it was the closest thing she'd ever had to a real friend outside of her family members and a few of the staff.

It hadn't bothered her, of course. Maybe she should have felt sad that she'd never had such a relationship, but there had always been Anna—once she'd opened her door, of course. Anna had been all she needed. She still was.

But that didn't stop her from looking forward to seeing a certain pair of brown eyes as the man came strolling back into the castle, a book under his arm and that still _ridiculous_ grin on his face.

Unfortunately, not everyone seemed as ready to accept him as she had become. The other advisors still seemed rather unconvinced and unimpressed during council meetings. They were always averse to change, and Elsa had forced it on them in the past, but they were especially reluctant to welcome someone so different from them into their ranks. He was too young and inexperienced, and despite him being a citizen of their closest ally, he was still a foreigner. Ivar had been as well, but he'd lived in Arendelle for so many years that it had hardly mattered anymore.

One frigidly cold afternoon in the middle of the week, Elsa was working in the library when the doors opened. She didn't bother looking up. It was likely Kai anyway. Petter usually didn't come on Wednesdays, and it was too cold outside for anyone but castle staff to be around.

She was surprised, of course, when she heard Petter's voice.

"Queen Elsa," he called out, sounding slightly out of breath through his clenched teeth. When she turned around, she could see he was still smiling, a grin stretched almost from ear to ear.

"Petter! This is a surprise." She looked at him closer, noticing that he was shivering.

"I hope a pleasant one," he managed.

"Of course. If you don't mind that I have a few things to finish up. Gods, you look frozen. Here, let me ring for someone—"

"You don't have to," he told her somewhat sheepishly.

By then she'd already pulled the bell pull, and one of the staff would already be on their way.

"Thank you. It is pretty rough outside, I will admit."

Elsa glanced out the window, looking concerned, before returning to her desk. Petter moved over to the fire, holding his gloved hands up to absorb the heat.

"I didn't expect to see you today," she admitted, glancing back over her work to find where she had left off.

"I was coming to the stables to check on Reidar."

"The groom says he doesn't mind taking care of your horse, you know. Especially in weather like this."

"I know. But I like to go. And I finished the book yesterday while I was stuck inside," he said, laughing slightly as he pulled it from inside his coat.

Elsa turned around, watching him curiously. "Well, what did you think?"

"While I don't agree with his opinions, I thought his ideas were interesting. I think they could be applied to other areas for a more successful result."

She nodded, smiling. "I quite agree. And of course, using a less extreme approach."

"Your majesty?" They were interrupted as a footman entered the library.

"Coffee, please. For two."

The footman bowed. "Of course, your majesty."

As he left the room, Petter replaced the book on the shelf. "Have you had a chance to get start the one I brought you?"

"I'm almost halfway finished," she said, turning back to her work once more. "Things have been busier than normal over the past week." Her tone was tired, but there was something else there—like a sadness well masked.

"It's snowing again," he noted absentmindedly, glancing out the window.

"What?!" she questioned, sounding embarrassed and a little flustered, her first instinct to look around the room before realizing that he was talking about the weather outside the castle.

"Is everything okay?" asked Petter, concerned.

She didn't answer, and he moved closer to her desk, noticing a peculiar looking piece of paper set off to the side. It looked like a leaflet, the edges a little torn and wrinkled from being out in the elements. Curious, he picked it up.

Elsa glanced up to watch him, still seated at the desk. "It's not the first one."

It was a caricature of Elsa, drawn to portray her as an intimidating ice queen, her crown a tall circlet of icy spikes sitting atop icy, spikes of white hair. From each hand it looked as if shards of ice were flying, a frozen castle behind her.

Elsa watched him carefully as he read the text—propaganda against her, describing her as an icy tyrant. His angry expression surprised her. "If you haven't seen them yet, you must not be getting out much," she observed, a coldness to her tone. "I've asked the guards to stop bringing them in. If people see them being removed by any staff from the castle, it'll just add fuel to the fire."

"That's all this is worth," he finally said, crossing back over to the fire and lighting the tip of the leaflet, watching as the fire slowly devoured it until he finally threw the last bit onto the burning logs. Elsa didn't protest. "Do you know who's responsible?"

"No, and it doesn't matter. It's not a crime."

"You don't believe a word of it, do you?"

"That I caused the snow? Of course not."

"No—the other."

Elsa paused. "I don't think so. I've tried. The only thing I haven't done is moved the entire kingdom into the castle. I've sent blankets and food to the poor. I found extra funds to give for charity. I don't know what else to do to fix this."

"Queen Elsa, it isn't your fault."

She sighed, finding her composure. "This isn't the first time they've hated me—"

"They don't hate you."

"—And I'm sure it won't be the last."

"Queen Elsa."

She finally turned to look at him, but the library doors opened once more as the footman returned with a tray.

"Coffee, your majesty."

"Thank you. You can leave it on the table." She nodded her head towards the table between the armchairs near the fireplace, and the footman obeyed.

"Is there anything else I can do for you, ma'am?"

"That will be all, thank you."

When they were alone again, Petter poured two cups, handing one to Elsa.

"The winter will be over soon."

"I'm sorry your first one in Arendelle has been so brutal," she said, setting the cup down on her desk.

"I've loved it."

"You're not a very convincing liar," chuckled Elsa.

"Well, I wouldn't object to warmer weather," he admitted, grinning. "But I love Arendelle. Cold and all."

"You're one of the few, then."

"That's not true."

"Did you come here to argue? Because I really have to finish some things," she told him, though her tone was light.

"You haven't forgotten our chess game, have you? Because I was definitely beating you before you had that convenient meeting with Magnus last week," he teased.

"One of the maids knocked the board over," she told him with a grin. "Sorry. You'll just have to try again."

Petter walked over to the chess board, sitting down on his usual side.

Elsa, upon noticing, turned back towards him and sighed. "I can't, I have work to do."

"You're working too hard. You need a break."

"You, sir, are in no position to make demands," said Elsa, turning her nose up higher in the air, her tone entirely playful.

"You're afraid to lose."

"Oh, you're delusional," she sighed, grinning in defeat as she crossed the room over to the table between the comfortable chairs, taking a seat across from him, moving her pawn to E4.

"It's fine—you can't win them all," he told her, pushing is pawn forward to C5.

"Apparently I can. I've only lost to you twice." She moved her knight forward.

"You know, I was always considered quite good at this."

Elsa laughed. "I never said you weren't good."

"I'm going to have to get you playing cards next."

"I'll win those too," she said dryly, pushing another pawn forward.

Petter gave an exasperated sigh, but couldn't hide his warm smile. "I'm sure you would."

Elsa glanced up at him, smirking through her lashes.

They played on in a concentrated silence for a few minutes, the game slowing some as each, too fiercely competitive for their own good, attempted complete concentration.

"Commander Strand brought me blueprints for the new naval ships yesterday," she finally said, remembering their brief meeting.

"I'm sure he's thrilled over the prospect of war," Petter mentioned, drawing his knight back beside his rook. There was little love lost between the naval commander and Petter, but the fault was mostly on the commander's fairly cold reception.

Elsa gave him a slightly disapproving glance, though she couldn't blame him entirely. Everyone was civil during council meetings, and so long as everyone's behavior remained professional and didn't prove to be detrimental to their positions, she couldn't force them to be friends.

"He's pleased over the new ships. Admittedly it's been a while since Arendelle commissioned any new ones." Her expression, however, was grave.

"Are you realizing that I'm winning? Or is something wrong?" questioned Petter, obviously trying to keep the conversation light, but looking genuinely concerned as he asked the second question.

"You're not winning," Elsa remarked stubbornly, but taking a moment before answering him further. "It's just that the more I try to plan for this, the more I realize how utterly inexperienced I am. I've read countless books about war, but I don't know if that's enough."

"No one can be prepared for it. Not even the most seasoned officers."

Elsa didn't respond. She couldn't shake the image of the caricatures. What if there really was a war? What if the people wouldn't listen to the tyrant ice queen commanding them into battle? She'd never even imagined that at some point, Arendelle would have to go to war. Growing up under her father's peaceful reign and having the benefit of her powers to deter attacks had perhaps lulled her into a false sense of security, and she cursed herself for being unprepared. She felt even worse for clinging to the belief that they would still be immune.

"Queen Elsa?" Petter asked, noticing her silence after a few moments.

She moved her knight closer to his queen, taking his pawn, but Petter's knight immediately took hers.

"I'm concentrating," she lied. Her white pawn took his black, though he had another pawn waiting to do the same to hers. As the white bishop took the same black pawn, the black king was left undefended.

Petter waited for a moment before moving his knight forward and closer down the board towards the white king.

Elsa pushed the white king forward, supported on two sides by white pawns, preventing the knight from checking it. Petter pulled the knight back. Elsa, however, noticed him watching her more than the board.

"What?"

"I never know what you're thinking."

Elsa smirked. "I'm wondering how long it will be before you're tired of our weekly chess matches."

Petter knew she was lying, but merely smiled. "It's nice to have competition. My brother hates chess. He never wanted to play with me. One of the servants used to, though, when he could make time without the housekeeper knowing."

"Anna thinks it's dull. Truth be told, I think it just involves her sitting still for too long. And my nephew only wants to play with the knights and rooks, even though he has his own toy knights," she said with a grin, cutting off his knight and queen with a white knight. "But my father used to play me."

Silence fell again as Petter took a moment's pause to look at the board. The fact that she'd moved her knight instead of taking his with her queen had clearly thrown him off. Realizing what she'd done, he made the only move he could, pulling his king back and shaking his head with defeat.

Elsa pushed her queen forward, and the white queen took the king. "Check mate."


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hopefully this makes up for seven's shortness. I'm looking forward to nine and ten, but I'm not sure which one more, since I'm not entirely sure where nine is going to be cut off and ten will begin. Work is going to be busy for the next two weeks so I'm not sure how much time I'll have in the evenings, but I still hope that I can update by next weekend. I promise to do my best, though! I'm trying to update with a chapter a week.

Spring did come, of course—and right on schedule, much to everyone's relief in Arendelle. By the time the snows had receded, eventually only capping the slopes of the surrounding mountains, people seemed to forget entirely about any of the blame being put on Elsa. She was relieved, but she never could forget each time she'd received criticism. She was lucky, as far as popularity was concerned. Compared to other monarchs, she spent relatively little time in the negative spotlight, but things happened. A necessary tax increase, a reduction in spending on a certain area, a new law, or a judicial decision that any percentage found unfavorable—there would never be a group that didn't feel slighted, even if the majority benefitted.

By mid-spring, Elsa was preparing for the voyage to the Vestfold, where the king was holding a summit among the northern (and a few southern) allies. Or at least they hoped to be allies. Petter had helped with the arrangements, making her life much easier.

The day before they were set to depart, Elsa was in her room packing a trunk, Anna sitting on the edge of her sister's bed. However, the word Elsa would have used was pouting.

"I still don't see why _you_ have to go."

Elsa sighed. "Anna. We've been through this."

"I know, but why can't Petter go?"

"Petter _is _going. But I have to go too. King Frederick invited monarchs, not foreign advisors," she explained calmly.__

Anna sighed, glancing out the window with her arms crossed. Down in the harbor, the ship was being prepared. Men were moving back and forth, loading the cargo that was set to go on the trip and readying her for the voyage.

"I know you're worried. But it's a short voyage, Anna. I'm going to be on land far more than on the sea."

Anna merely turned to look at her, Elsa's attempt at comforting her doing nothing to the frown on her face. Elsa knew very well what was behind those eyes, remaining unsaid. _Yes, but they had a short voyage too._

"Anna, I _promise_. It's going to be okay. It's only for—"

"I _know_ how long it is, Elsa."

Two weeks. Two weeks and she'd be home to hug Anna and remind her that _I told you it would be fine_. She only wished she could say something other than two weeks.

But until then, there wasn't much she could say. It was the same story every time she sailed, which wasn't very often. What Elsa couldn't tell Anna was that she was afraid, too. She hated sailing, but it was necessary. Things were starting to change in the world. Kingdoms couldn't survive in isolation and she had no other choice but to travel from time to time. And due to the nature of Arendelle's location, travel was done by sea.

She turned away from Anna, taking a moment to just close her eyes tightly and take a breath without Anna seeing. If Anna thought she was strong and brave and not at all worried, it would have to make the two weeks pass by a little easier, surely?

Anna must have thought Elsa turning her back was a sign of anger, and she looked as if she was about to speak, but first there was a knock at the door. For a moment, Anna looked at Elsa before huffing in frustration. Elsa knew what she wanted to say. _Of course. Queenly business. Everything else that's more important than me. ___

__"Your majesty?"_ _

__"You can come in, Gerda." There was a sadness in Elsa's tone, and a desperation to just have one private conversation—or argument—with her sister without being interrupted, but she knew she had to attend to matters. It was likely something to do with travel preparations, and she liked to be well-informed and aware of every aspect of the plans when it came to voyages. While she had to trust the expertise of the crew above all, it at least gave her the illusion of being in control, and being in control was comforting._ _

__The door opened, and Gerda took a step inside. "I'm sorry to interrupt, ma'am—Oh! There you are, Princess Anna. I suspected you might be helping Queen Elsa," Gerda said, beaming._ _

___Helping, indeed_ , Elsa thought bitterly to herself._ _

__"Princess Anna, Nanny was looking for you. She said the children are awake from their nap, and I believe the three of you had a bit of an excursion planned."_ _

__Elsa sighed in relief, though a part of her wanted to shoot a rather pointed glance in Anna's direction. _It's not always me they want.__ _

__"Yes, we do. I'll just get my cloak and go meet them," she said, following Gerda out of the room without another word._ _

__Elsa went back to packing, carefully folding each dress to keep it as neat as possible. The staff had offered. Gerda explained that all she needed to do was pick what she wanted packed and it would be taken care of, but she'd put off packing until the last possible minute and found that she really wanted to do it herself. Especially after the exchange with Anna, she found it calming to just have a mindless task of folding, and she'd kept her schedule clear for the full day anyway. She had hoped to have some time with her family, but she should have known that there would be tensions with Anna._ _

__For a moment she glanced out the window, thinking about Anna and her children going out to enjoy the mild spring weather with a twinge of jealousy. The air was still cool, but everything was green and the purple crocus flowers were in full bloom. The trees weren't yet covered in the thick leaves like they would be by summer, but Elsa preferred the light shade of the green buds anyway. With the sunlight streaming down, it was hard to even notice the chill in the air._ _

__If conditions would just be so perfect for the next three days, she wouldn't care what happened during the negotiations. It could thunder and storm to nature's desires, but smooth sailing conditions there and back were all she could ask for._ _

__She was able to finish packing without any further disturbance, and she found a dress to hang up for the next morning. It had to be regal, of course, for the send-off. There would be people waving the queen's ship off, and she had to look like a monarch that would make Arendelle proud in foreign territory. She needed comfort as well, though, as she had no interest in any of the dresses that involved being laced up so tightly that she could scarcely breathe._ _

__Later that evening, she heard the children babbling with their governess as they walked down the hall toward the nursery to wash up for dinner, and Gerda once again knocked on her door. "Dinner will be ready on schedule, your majesty. Do you need more time?"_ _

__"No, Gerda. That will be fine, thank you."_ _

__"Very good, ma'am."_ _

__Despite the tensions earlier, dinner went off without any arguments, though she and Anna didn't speak all that much to one another. The children were doing most of the talking, asking excited questions about Elsa's trip, and not seeming to make the connection that she'd be gone for a whole fortnight for at least half of it._ _

__"Will you see any pirates?" questioned Rolf excitedly, having just read a story with his father about them._ _

__Elsa laughed, fortunately just before she'd been able to bring her wine glass to her lips. "I should hope not."_ _

__"Will you be home soon?" It was Astrid that asked the question, looking over at her aunt rather timidly._ _

__"I'll be home in two weeks," Elsa replied, seeing her niece's disappointment and shock. For the little girl, two weeks felt like two months. "It will go by fast! You'll be busy now, with the weather getting so nice. I'm sure your mama and papa will keep you occupied. You won't even notice I'm gone," she explained with a wink._ _

__Astrid looked as if she was about to speak again and protest, but Rolf interrupted first, sounding excited. "Papa says I can go see the ice harvesters with him!"_ _

__Anna turned to look at Kristoff, her expression a mixture of surprise and disapproval._ _

__Kristoff only grinned, holding up a hand. "Not this early, buddy. We'll go in the summer when everything that's going to thaw has been able to."_ _

__The answer wasn't entirely satisfactory to the boy, but he dropped the subject in favor of something else—something he wasn't always mature enough to do, but Elsa felt proud of him that night._ _

__After dinner was finished, Kristoff took the children upstairs to start the long process of getting them ready for bed, and the sisters left the dining room shortly after in silence._ _

__Out in the corridor, Elsa sighed, turning slightly toward her sister._ _

__"Anna—"_ _

__"Elsa—"_ _

__They had both spoken at once, each stopping to look at the other._ _

__"Sorry, I—"_ _

__"I'm sorry, Elsa."_ _

__Elsa looked somewhat surprised, and Anna continued._ _

__"I didn't mean to snap at you earlier."_ _

__"Anna, it's okay. You don't have to apologize."_ _

__"So you forgive me?"_ _

__Elsa was quiet for a moment, glancing at her sister. Anna never needed to ask for forgiveness. "Anna... Of _course_."_ _

__Anna didn't speak, but she glanced up at her sister, giving Elsa a look that made her suspicious before realizing Anna's intentions. She braced herself as Anna threw her arms around her shoulders, pulling her in for a hug._ _

__"You're just going to have to get over it, because you're getting another one tomorrow," Anna said, waiting for Elsa to relax and return the hug before she finally stepped away._ _

__"We're departing at dawn," Elsa reminded her with a smirk. "Are you going to be up in time?"_ _

__"Of course! What kind of question is that?" Anna feigned offense. "Now, did you finish packing?"_ _

__"I think so. I'm sure I've forgotten some particular necklace or brooch that pairs best with a particular dress, but I won't have forgotten anything I can't live without."_ _

__"Did you pack the pink dress?" Anna questioned, giggling as Elsa wrinkled her nose._ _

__"I should have, if only to toss it overboard or give it to another queen as a gift. But I wouldn't want anyone to think I had such poor taste."_ _

__"It's not _that_ bad—"_ _

__"Okay, well you take it, then."_ _

__There was silence for no longer than a few seconds before both sisters were giggling._ _

__"I'd better start getting ready for bed. There's a few more things I need to do. Oh, and I've got some things I need you to do while I'm gone—don't worry, they won't take that long."_ _

__"Maybe not for you," Anna grumbled playfully. "But I'm sure I can manage."_ _

__"I'm sure you can, too. See you in the morning."_ _

__"Good night, Elsa."_ _

* * *

__Elsa slept surprisingly easy that night, but Gerda's knock on the door the next morning felt so much sooner than she had anticipated._ _

__"Your majesty? It's half past five."_ _

__Elsa rolled over onto her back, groaning. "Thank you, Gerda."_ _

__"Shall I come in and give you some light, ma'am?"_ _

__"Yes, thank you." It was a lucky thing, too, or Elsa was sure she would have fallen back asleep. Gerda entered the room, a candle in her hand, and lit the one next to the queen's bed._ _

__"Do you want to dress first thing, ma'am, or shall I have some breakfast brought up to you?"_ _

__"Breakfast, please. I'll dress myself."_ _

__"Yes, ma'am."_ _

__Forcing herself to sit up so she wouldn't be tempted to fall asleep once more, Elsa squinted at the window. While it was still dark outside, from what Elsa could see, the sky still looked perfectly clear. After a few moments to allow her eyes to adjust, she finally stood, crossing over to the screen where her dress for the day was hanging._ _

__By the time she had slipped into the dress, Gerda had returned, leaving a tray with entirely too much food for so early in the morning on her desk and approaching the queen once more. "Shall I help with that, ma'am?" she questioned, indicating the buttons on the back._ _

__"Please, Gerda." Elsa flipped her long braid out of the way, standing still as Gerda carefully fastened each button._ _

__"There you are, ma'am."_ _

__"Thank you. Is everything ready?"_ _

__"It is, ma'am. Kai's asked one of the footmen to come up and get the last of your luggage."_ _

__"Is Elin still traveling with me?"_ _

__"She is, ma'am. She's very excited, I think. She's never been on a ship before."_ _

__"Her optimism will be good company, then." Elsa moved over to her dressing table, sitting down in front of the mirror and letting out her braid before running a brush through her hair._ _

__"I hope it will be, ma'am. Can I get you anything else?"_ _

__"No, I think that will be all," instructed Elsa, hands moving to re-braid her hair, finally twisting it back into a low bun. Last, she opened a drawer, pulled out an ornate and beautifully decorated box, and retrieved her crown from inside. She only wore it on special occasions, as no one in Arendelle would mistake her for anyone other than the queen, but a special occasion had arrived, and she would be wearing it for the next two weeks._ _

__She attempted to eat, but her nerves were getting the better of her, and she finally only managed to get the blandest of the foods down._ _

__A footman arrived just before she was ready, picking up the heavy remaining trunk with relative ease. Part of her felt ridiculous for taking so many belongings for two weeks, but dresses were bulky and heavy, especially the formal ones, and she needed at least a few of those for dinners and other evening gatherings._ _

__By the time she'd made it down the stairs, Anna was waiting, looking like she'd barely had time to get dressed and hair slightly disheveled, but there nonetheless. "Good, you haven't left! I'm coming."_ _

__Still blinking sleep away, Elsa looked confused. "Wait, what?"_ _

__"I'm coming to wave the ship off—Ohh, look at you with your crown!"_ _

__Elsa shook her head, grinning. Anna was normally even less of a morning person than her. "Gerda brought you coffee this morning, didn't she?"_ _

__"Elsa, I don't know how you drink it every day."_ _

__"Your majesty? We're ready," Kai said, approaching with a bow._ _

__At the top of the first flight of stairs, the governess appeared with the children, the little girl rubbing her eyes sleepily as they made their way down toward the queen. Elsa knelt down, pulling them both into a tight hug. "Be good for your mama and nanny. I'll see you in two weeks." Giving them each a kiss on the cheek, which Rolf promptly wiped away, she stood to turn back to Kai, nodding. "I'm ready."_ _

__The doors opened, and the sisters stepped out into the courtyard, where there was an open coach waiting. It felt completely ridiculous, considering that when she traveled around Arendelle, Elsa rode her own horse, and they could have easily walked to the docks given the proximity to the palace, but tradition was tradition, and certain protocol had to be followed._ _

__Anna rode with Elsa, smiling at the people that had gathered so early to watch the queen's ship sail from the streets. Elsa felt completely calm and collected, presenting the dignified and undaunted face they had come to expect from their queen. It wasn't until she and Anna were walking up the docks and approaching the ship that Elsa felt that sense of dread. Two weeks away from Arendelle. Several days on a ship. And a group of foreign dignitaries and monarchs to tackle in between. Allies or not, negotiations could be tense._ _

__She turned, giving Anna the most reassuring smile she could muster just before being pulled into a tight embrace, which she returned with equal enthusiasm. "A fortnight, Anna. I'll be back in a fortnight." She couldn't bring herself to say two weeks when Anna had already heard that one before._ _

__"Be careful," Anna whispered, and Elsa could see the beginnings of a tear in her eye._ _

__As she walked up the gangway, the captain held his hand out for her, which she took graciously. "It's a beautiful morning for sailing, your majesty. I think we can expect calm waters over the next few days."_ _

__"I hope so, Captain," she said._ _

__"Everyone has boarded, ma'am. We'll be departing in the next few minutes."_ _

__"Thank you."_ _

__She got herself out of the way so the crew could do what they needed to, and she moved over to look over the railing. The water was very calm, though she knew there would be a little more movement once they were out of the fjord and into the sea._ _

__"I thought you may be the last one to arrive," a familiar voice teased from behind her._ _

__She turned around, smirking. "Petter."_ _

__He bowed his head. "Queen Elsa."_ _

__"When did you get here?"_ _

__"An hour ago—What? I like being early," he grinned, noticing the skeptical look she gave him._ _

__"Afraid I'd show up early and we'd leave you behind?"_ _

__He laughed. "No, I wasn't afraid of that. Look—We're pushing off."_ _

__Just as Elsa turned around to see, she could feel the ship's movement, and she moved back to the starboard side to see Anna still waiting on the docks. The anxious expression on her sister's face did little for Elsa's own nerves, but she smiled warmly and waved as a light breeze picked up and carried the ship further out into the fjord._ _

__Petter stayed by her side, though he gave her enough space to feel at ease. Over their months of knowing each other, the fact that he'd figured out how much space to give her was not lost on her. It was one of the many things she'd learned to appreciate about him. Oddly enough, sometimes it made her wish to be closer to him. She couldn't quite figure out the logic behind that one._ _

__"Are you excited?" he asked her later, as Arendelle had finally shrunk from view._ _

__"I don't know if excited is the word I'd use," she said, starting to feel uneasy as the ship moved into open water and the size of the waves picked up. It was normal, but she sailed so rarely that the gentle rocking was more than she was accustomed to._ _

__Petter was clearly happy, the smile on his face evidence enough of that, but Elsa watched as the smile faded as sudden realization hit him. "Of course, I—I'm sorry. I forget." _You lost your parents at sea_ was the obvious thought process._ _

__"No, it's fine—really." It had been enough years that she could talk about them, though being on a ship did bring back some of the painful memories. Part of her unease with ships had been due to her own wondering about what really happened when they were lost, more than just the simple fact that they had died. "I'm just not used to sailing."_ _

__He nodded, understanding. "We'll stay above deck for a while. It will help."_ _

__And it did help. Eventually as the morning wore on and the sun became a little too severe, they retreated just below to her cabin, passing the time by going over the many points she wished to make during negotiations, and making sure nothing had been missed. Petter had done a magnificent job with organizing the documents, and she wasn't sure if she could dare admit that the work he'd put into the preparations surpassed even the past efforts of Ivar._ _

__That evening, she invited him to dine with her and the captain, which he happily obliged to, and they only separated when each finally retired to their respective quarters that night to sleep. It wasn't until Elin, the maid accompanying her, had left and she was alone in her bed that the ship's rocking started to make Elsa feel uneasy once more._ _

__Elin brought her breakfast to the cabin the next morning, offering apologies for waking her. Elsa hadn't gotten much sleep, however, regardless of the maid's entry. She tried to lay in bed a little longer, but as the sunlight streamed in through the tiny window, she realized that it was much later than she normally allowed herself in Arendelle. There was no business to attend to, but out of habit she couldn't simply lie there. She had less interest in the food—was it really necessary to have such salty meats on a two day journey?—but she rose, dressed, and made her way up to the deck, where the air and sunlight felt infinitely better than the cabin._ _

__After a few minutes standing at the stern, where she felt the most out of the way of the crew doing their jobs, Petter came strolling up. "Good morning! How did you sleep?"_ _

__"I've had better," she admitted truthfully._ _

__"Did you get something to eat?"_ _

__She nodded. "Salty meat and hard bread." Of course she didn't mean to grumble, but she missed the comforts of Arendelle already._ _

__"Well, hopefully we should be dining in comfort tomorrow."_ _

__"Are you excited to be going home?"_ _

__"I am. My brother will be at the palace, and I haven't seen him in well over a year."_ _

__"Why will he be there?"_ _

__"Alexander's an officer in the royal guard. He reports directly to the crown prince."_ _

__"Oh—I just assumed as your father's heir, he'd be at your home."_ _

__"Father couldn't exactly protest. My brother studied at the military academy with the prince, and they've been close friends for a long time." He shrugged. "They sort of grew up together. Father and King Frederick have been friends since they fought together in a war, so we spent summers with them. Alexander and Prince Kristian are the same age."_ _

__Elsa couldn't help but notice the familiar ease with which he discussed the royal family, and it must have been plain on her face._ _

__"Why are you looking at me like that?" he questioned, genuinely curious._ _

__"You're just full of surprises."_ _

__He shrugged. "Hopefully all good ones. It was never a big deal, though. Prince Kristian is surprisingly down to earth. He'll make a good king. And Johan... Well, I think he's always been glad that he's the younger prince. He likes the luxuries of being a prince without the responsibility of real power."_ _

__Elsa smirked before looking away, glancing off at the horizon. There was no sight of land on either side, and while she'd looked at the course that had been charted and was well-prepared for the journey, she couldn't quite decide where to imagine their current position on a map._ _

__"Are you feeling better today?"_ _

__"Hmm?" she asked, realizing she hadn't been paying attention. "Oh—I'm fine, thank you. It's just strange, being so far from Arendelle." It was partly a lie. While it was strange, she felt no better from the day before. If anything, with the little sleep she was able to get the night before, she could say she felt worse._ _

__"Are you going to treat today as a much-needed break, or do you want to keep working? I can give you some privacy, unless it's company you want—"_ _

__"I appreciate the company, actually." She really didn't want to be alone, though maybe she'd said that a bit too quickly. "And I'd—I'd rather get some work done, to be perfectly honest. I just want to make sure I'm prepared."_ _

__Petter nodded, though he looked entirely pleased that she wanted his company. "We can certainly go over everything again. It never hurts."_ _

__They worked well into the afternoon, finally taking a long break out on the deck for fresh air. The evening routine was much the same as the day before, but after dinner with the captain (with the same menu, much to Elsa's disappointment), Petter and Elsa escaped out onto the deck once more, after a good-natured argument at dinner over who would be able to name more of the stars and constellations. Fortunately it was a clear night, with seemingly every star visible. Petter was every bit as knowledgeable as he proclaimed, partly to Elsa's surprise. By the time they had gone through constellations and were beginning to repeat, they moved on to the stars._ _

__Petter pointed toward the sky. "There's Draco—"_ _

__"No, I already said that one."_ _

__"You're so competitive," Petter grumbled._ _

__"The star Arcturus is there."_ _

__"No, that's Erigone."_ _

__"No, it isn't. Erigone is part of Boötes," argued Elsa._ _

__"You've got that backwards. Erigone is Leo, Arcturus is Boötes."_ _

__"Are you sure?"_ _

__"Completely."_ _

__"Mind if I look that up when we get back to Arendelle?"_ _

__"Just admit defeat, your majesty."_ _

__Elsa smirked. "Maybe just this once, since you played such a poor game of chess a few weeks ago."_ _

__"That's very generous of you."_ _

__They both laughed, leaning against the railing, though Petter was looking down at the water by then and Elsa was facing the other way, keeping her attention on the sky and her back to the railing. The dark water beneath the ship was a little more unnerving at night, but only when she stared too closely at it._ _

__"I should go pretend to sleep," Elsa finally said._ _

__"The waters are a bit calmer tonight than last night, I think. Hopefully it will make it easier."_ _

__"I'll try. And thank you for the company today. I'm sorry if you had better plans for your day." Elsa felt a bit guilty. When he'd asked her if she was going to view it as a break, she'd hardly thought about the fact that perhaps he was viewing it as a break as well. "I promise I won't monopolize all of your time once we arrive."_ _

__"Believe me, it was a pleasure."_ _

__Elsa didn't believe him, but she gave him a warm smile all the same. "Good night, Petter."_ _

__"Good night, Queen Elsa."_ _

* * *

__The next morning turned out to be a gray one, with a light fog hovering over the flat waters. The gentle swell started to grow a little rougher, but by mid-morning, land was in sight and the waves were breaking as the waters became more shallow, and the sun started to break through the clouds._ _

__It was just before noon before Elsa's feet were actually on solid ground again, much to her relief. The castle had sent a closed coach with the royal seal painted on the side, pulled by two magnificent bay horses. On Elsa's invitation, Petter joined her in the coach, the driver setting off to take them to the king. Another cart had followed for luggage and the servants (though, being sent from the royal family's own livery, it was hardly the sort of cart that would typically spring to mind), and Elin began to supervise the crew as the queen's belongings were loaded to follow to the palace._ _

__In the coach, Elsa watched out the window as the city passed by. The castle was much farther from the castle than it was in Arendelle, and the city itself felt a bit larger as well. Everything seemed rather pristine, though she was sure that everyone had been responsible for some tidying up before so many monarchs arrived. Even Arendelle got a bit of a spring cleaning whenever visiting monarchs and important dignitaries visited._ _

__Petter was sitting across from her, though he seemed somewhat disinterested in the scenery moving past the window. Having grown up in the country, it must have felt entirely normal to him. "The driver's taking us the long way. Through the best sections," he smirked. "Also a mind game to make the city feel bigger and wealthier, I'm sure."_ _

__Elsa laughed. "I imagine that's more effective on the kings arriving with their insecurities—What?"_ _

__Petter was grinning. "You're going to handle yourself just fine in these negotiations, Queen Elsa."_ _

__"Did you have doubts?" she questioned, her smile warm._ _

__"Never even once."_ _

__"At least that makes one of us."_ _

__Petter's smile faded slightly, making it evident that he disagreed with her lack of faith in herself. Elsa started to protest that she didn't doubt her own knowledge, but her skills in diplomacy were about to be tested. Face to face negotiations with so many countries at once were not anything she had been able to practice to any great lengths. And at any rate, she didn't think there was anything more dangerous than overconfidence._ _

__"Do you feel like you're home?" she asked him._ _

__He shrugged, that slight grin returning. "Yes, I suppose so. In a way. I've spent so many years away that it's a little strange—but it's nice to be back."_ _

__"Does your father live far from here?"_ _

__"Half a day by carriage, but you can get there in a couple of hours by a horse that doesn't waste time." He glanced out the window with some interest, apparently seeing all-too familiar territory. "Here's the palace."_ _

__Elsa leaned forward and closer to the window, finally seeing a corner come into view as they passed through intimidating iron gates with gold-plated designs. The carriage circled round, pulling up parallel to the palace before coming to a halt. Elsa composed herself, a hand moving to straighten her crown as a pair of footmen approached from the palace doors._ _

__"You look beautiful," Petter assured her, though she didn't have a chance to respond, or even cast a surprised glance in his direction before the footmen were opening the door and a hand was extended._ _

__The palace itself was beautiful, though perhaps a little smaller than the palace in Arendelle. However, it was far from small, and couldn't have been lacking in very many rooms in comparison to Arendelle. If it lacked anything in size, however, it certainly made up for it in style. By appearance and style of architecture, it couldn't have been much more than fifty years old, and every ornate carving was plated in gold._ _

__They were lead into an eastern wing of the palace, where King Frederick, Prince Kristian, and Prince Johan were waiting._ _

__"Queen Elsa of Arendelle, your majesty," announced one of the staff, and Elsa approached the king._ _

__After both Elsa and the king bowed (she had long refused to curtsey to anyone—it felt too much like an inferior's gesture to a superior, and as she was the ruler of a kingdom in her own right, she was inferior to no king), King Frederick offered her a friendly smile. She'd met him once or twice during other travels, but mostly their correspondence had been written. He was aging, his hair already fully gray, but his alliance with Arendelle had always been one built on mutual trust. The man was intelligent, and Elsa respected him for it, but most of their interactions had been on the subject of trade._ _

__"I'm so glad you could come, Queen Elsa. Though I don't believe you've met my sons. The Crown Prince Kristian," he began, extending a hand to gesture to his eldest son, who stepped forward as Elsa bowed politely, and he returned the gesture. "And Prince Johan." The younger of the two, though he was at least Elsa's age, stepped forward before the king continued. "We're still waiting on a few kings to arrive, but I expect the negotiations can begin in full the day after tomorrow. While you're here, I hope you'll be as comfortable as possible."_ _

__Elsa nodded. "Thank you. That's very kind."_ _

__"Luncheon was served, but I suspect you didn't have a chance to eat on the ship?"_ _

__The queen shook her head._ _

__"We'll have something sent up to your room. I imagine you'll want to rest. Dinner will be served at eight, and you're welcome to join us, or a servant can bring something up." He caught the eye of the servant who had announced her arrival, turning his attention to him. "Show Queen Elsa to her room, please."_ _

__"Yes, your majesty."_ _

__She followed him out, catching Petter's eye and receiving a reassuring nod as he approached to greet the king and the princes. A part of her didn't want to be separated from the most familiar face she had in the country, but the opportunity to rest before the start of what would be a long week was not unwelcome._ _


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello everyone! First of all, I can't apologize enough for how late this update is coming. I had to go out of town for work and then coming back, budget season hit me full on (I work at a non-profit, so budget season is crazy and it's one of my responsibilities). So it's been crazy, between that and a few family issues this last week. I think everything's calmed down and updates should be weekly again. I can promise the next chapter will be added quickly, because by the time I'd finished it, I realized I needed to do a GRRM and cut it in half. Next chapter will be here in the next few days! Thanks for your patience and for sticking with me this last month. xx

The next morning as she opened her eyes, sunlight streaming in through a crack in the curtains, she wondered for a moment where she was. While she normally found it difficult to sleep anywhere but her own bed, she'd been too tired the night before to have any trouble falling asleep. The result, of course, was that the disorientation came the next morning.

The sun was up, or at least enough to allow the light in, but it was still quite early, and it didn't look as if Elin had been in yet. She'd instructed the girl to wake her around eight, and she realized as she was lying there that she was for the most part trapped in the room until the girl arrived. Most of the dresses she'd brought, being more formal, required some help getting on, if for nothing else than getting the buttons behind her shoulders.

She'd probably been awake for a quarter of an hour before the door finally opened, the maid doing her best to manage a tray as she pushed the heavy door open. Elsa sat up, moving over to help her with what turned out to be an even heavier tray than it looked.

"Oh! Your majesty—please, I can manage now—"

"It's fine, Elin," Elsa said, doing her best to reassure her. The girl looked upset, as if she had somehow failed. Elin was fairly young, though not many years younger than Elsa, and it was her first opportunity to serve as a lady's maid to the queen. She'd joined the Arendelle palace staff as a chamber maid when she had been only sixteen, but she'd been promoted to a parlour maid and then the head housemaid after the former maids in those positions had resigned. Gerda usually took care of Elsa's needs, even though she was the housekeeper. It was just simpler, as Gerda had been there for Elsa since she had been small, but being sixty, Elsa hadn't wanted to drag her across the sea. And besides that, Anna needed her more.

"Thank you, your majesty," she muttered sheepishly, taking the tray back from the queen, her eyes cast down at the rug, too intimidated to make eye contact, and setting it on a table. "I can bring something else later if you're not hungry now, ma'am. It's just that the kitchens were getting all the trays ready at once, you see."

"It'll be just fine, Elin," Elsa assured her, giving her a smile to show she wasn't displeased in any way. She covered her mouth, stifling a yawn. "What time is it?"

"About a quarter past eight, ma'am. Oh, um—would you like to dress first, or do you want me to come back in half an hour?"

Elsa thought about it for a moment before answering. "Now, I suppose. I took a dress out yesterday when I arrived-did you get it ready?"

"I did, ma'am," Elin squeaked, stepping over to the dressing screen where the dress was draped. Elsa crossed the room after her, proceeding to mostly dress herself, but letting Elin take over where it was most difficult. The dress was simple, as Elsa had never been comfortable in anything else, but the embroidery and the color was rich and extremely well done.

"What's it like downstairs?" Elsa questioned, curious.

"Very busy, ma'am. I don't think many of the servants have seen so many people in the palace for an extended stay. And there are a lot of us servants around as well."

"How are your accommodations?"

"Very nice, ma'am," Elin replied, looking extremely pleased that the queen was taking an interest. "I'm in a room with three other visiting maids. Everyone's been very kind."

"I'm glad. Was there any sort of itinerary for the day? Or are we fending for ourselves?"

"I believe it's up to you, ma'am. There was a note for you, though. Over by the tray."

Probably Petter, she thought, hiding a smile. Once she could track him down, she'd force him to show her the palace, though she wondered if that was what he was writing about in the first place. She was looking forward to meeting his brother, who she had already imagined as being every bit as infuriating as Petter.

"It's from Prince Johan, I believe, ma'am."

"Oh..."

"Something wrong, ma'am?" Elin asked, looking worried that she'd done something wrong.

"No, not at all. I'm just a bit surprised. Have you seen Mr. Løvenskiold?"

"I haven't, ma'am," Elin replied, fastening the last button on the back of the dress. "There you go, ma'am—all done. Did you want me to send for him?"

"Thank you. And no, there's no need. I was just curious." Of course he'd be with his brother. They hadn't seen one another in quite some time, and she had promised him she wouldn't monopolize his time while they were there. She'd already done that on the entire voyage there, and while he was there to help her, he wouldn't be actually attending the negotiations unless there was some change in plans. It was monarchs only, leaving his days his to spend however he should choose.

Elsa glanced at Elin, giving her a quick smile before she crossed over to the table, picking up the note and breaking the prince's wax seal. "That will be all for the moment, Elin."

She unfolded the page and glanced over the note, and was surprised to see that it wasn't just generic well-wishes. Those were there, of course, but there was the additional invitation to join him in the gardens at half past ten. She opened a drawer to find that fresh paper and ink had been supplied to the room, and taking a sheet out, she gave a quick reply, thanking him and accepting the invitation in her deliberate, much-practiced penmanship. It would have been rude not to. Carefully folding it, and melting the wax over her candle, she sealed it with her ring and handed it off to Elin. "Can you see that Prince Johan gets this?"

"Yes, ma'am." Elin gave a curtsey, taking the note and departing.

Alone, Elsa made a start on the breakfast tray that her maid had brought—a huge improvement over what they'd had on the ship—before brushing out and fixing her hair, putting it up in the more formal style customary to formal occasions and once again donning the crown.

The hour she spent between getting ready and actually making her way back down to the gardens was a lonely one, though she took the opportunity to glance over the notes she'd made for what had to have been the hundredth time. She could recite them in her sleep, but there was some comfort to reviewing them, and there was little else to do to pass the time.

By the time she had stepped out into the gardens, it was exactly half past ten. The clock tower had a short chime on the half hour, and a long one on the hour, so she knew she wasn't late.

She waited for a few minutes, starting to feel a little anxious and wondering if she was in the wrong place, but he finally appeared.

"Queen Elsa," he said, strolling toward her with a grin, finally stopping to bow his head slightly. "Can you forgive me for being late?"

Without a warning, he reached forward to take her hand, lifting it up to press his lips against her cool skin. She tensed, pulling her hand away as soon as it would not seem too rude, but she was proud that she hadn't frozen his hand.

"Of course," she lied. "I'm sure this summit has caused quite the commotion for staff."

"It always seems as if it should go smoothly, in theory. You plan and plan, and then nothing ever quite works out that way. Still, it hasn't deviated too far from the original plan."

"Then it's a great success so far," she noted, offering up a polite smile.

"I was very glad when you agreed to join me this morning. I hope your first night here was to your satisfaction. Let me know if there's anything you need to be more comfortable."

"That's very kind of you, but everything was perfect. Your father has been very generous."

"I'm glad to hear it. Shall we?" He waved his hand, indicating the pathway through the garden before them, and they began to walk.

They took one slow turn around the garden, making polite small talk about the varieties of plants in bloom before he began asking her more questions about Arendelle and herself. She'd expected the prince to be irritatingly cavalier, but even though he certainly seemed as carefree as Petter had said, he also seemed to be more genuine and impulsive than she had expected. Almost like Anna.

By the time they had made a second turn around the garden, there was a servant waiting at the top of the path, closest to the palace. Elsa heard the prince scoff, though he composed himself quickly.

"I'm sorry to interrupt you, your royal highness, but the King is looking for you. The last ship has arrived in the harbor."

"Very well. Thank you." The Prince turned to Elsa, looking apologetic. "I'm sorry, Queen Elsa. I hope you don't think me rude—"

"No, no. Of course not. I understand better than anyone," she said, offering a reassuring smile.

His face brightened a little. "Thank you. Please—meet me again after luncheon? I promise that there won't be any interruptions. We could take a walk around the palace." He paused, but only for a short moment. "No, I have a better idea. Do you ride?"

"Some," she admitted, though her tone was hesitant.

"Will you go for a ride with me? You'll be seeing the palace for the next week and a half. The city and the countryside is far more interesting. Please say you'll come."

Elsa didn't speak for a moment, her eyes glancing down at the ground as she considered it. If it was short, she'd still have the evening to prepare one last time for the start of negotiations the next day. Besides, it was that or she'd likely spend the afternoon in her room. "I suppose."

The prince beamed, before taking a step back and bowing. Elsa couldn't help but notice that it was a little lower than generally would be expected of a prince in his home country. Finally, he turned around, strolling back up toward the palace—passing Petter on the way.

His eyes looked as if they met the prince's as they passed, and they seemed to exchange familiar, polite nods before Petter approached Elsa.

"There you are! I've been looking for you all morning. I managed to catch Elin as she was carrying out your breakfast tray and she said you'd come out to the gardens."

"I wondered what you were up to," Elsa grinned, genuinely relieved to see him. She didn't want to admit that she'd already asked Elin after him that morning. "I thought you'd be busy."

He shook his head. "I'm here to serve you, first and foremost." His gaze shifted, looking around the garden once before back to her. "I see you've had a chance to properly meet Prince Johan."

Elsa nodded. "I had a letter from him this morning, inviting me to come for a walk in the gardens—though it was cut a bit short. The last ship has arrived, so negotiations should be starting tomorrow."

"Do you want to do any work today?" he questioned, seeming to notice the slight anxiety in her tone.

"This evening, I think, though there's not much to do other than review what we've already discussed and drawn up." Elsa was quite sure that, if someone asked, she could recite every word in her sleep by that point. "Have you had a chance to spend any time with your brother?"

"Yesterday evening before dinner, actually," he said with a smile. "But he has the afternoon free. I know it isn't a priority with the negotiations about to begin, but since you mentioned that you were interested in meeting him, I thought—perhaps—well, possibly this afternoon?"

Elsa's smile faded. "I've already agreed to go for a ride with Prince Johan," she explained.

He looked disappointed, but mustered up a smile. "Not to worry. There's still plenty of time." There was a pause. "Be careful, though. Johan likes to ride fast and take risks. Once, he gave me—Well, it doesn't matter. I'm sure he'll be careful with you. He'd better—" Petter stopped himself, getting a bit more noticeably rattled.

Elsa smirked. "What did he give you?"

"It's nothing. Don't worry about it."

By then, she was grinning, her curiosity growing. "Tell me. Please?"

He sighed, looking for a moment as if he was debating whether or not he should tell the story before he admitted defeat. "One summer, he gave me a psychotic little chestnut mare to ride. She seemed perfectly fine in hand, but it turned out that she hadn't been trained under saddle, and the wretched beast threw me into a fence. Johan thought it was hilarious, of course."

She laughed, though it wasn't a malicious one. "I'm sorry for laughing. How old were you?"

"We were both ten. My arm was in a sling for the rest of the summer."

"That's terrible!"

Petter shrugged. "I cut notches in his stirrup leathers after that. I didn't know he was going to be jumping the next day, though. One snapped over the jump and he fell. He ended up with a broken wrist." His gaze dropped, and he looked a little ashamed of himself. "Sometimes I still feel guilty when I look back on it, and how much worse it could have been. But that's childhood for you. It's like a brief immortality."

Elsa grinned, though it was forced. Memories of the night of the accident with Anna were swirling in her head, though she had to agree with him. Her childhood ended that night, and it had died along with her childish beliefs in the immortality of herself and those around her. She paused, her lips parted slightly as if she were about to speak, but nothing came. A part of her wanted to tell Petter about what had happened with Anna, but she couldn't bring herself to. She'd never spoken about it with anyone, except for Anna and her parents.

The clock seemed to make the choice of silence for her, however. It chimed on the half hour, signaling a half hour to noon. Luncheon would be served soon, and she didn't dare chance lateness when many other monarchs would be joining.

"Do you need to go?" he asked gently.

She nodded, though a part of her longed for a few more minutes. "Walk with me. Are you joining the rest of the lunch party?" It was the most diplomatic way she could think to ask whether or not he'd been invited.

"I am, actually. Though I won't be at dinner tonight. It's royalty only, apparently. You'll have to fill me in on the court gossip," he said with a good-natured smile.

"I doubt it will be that interesting." They reached the point where the corridors split, and each had to go their separate ways. "I'll see you at luncheon."

They shared a smile for a moment as they parted, each moving from there in a different direction.

By the time Elsa had gotten ready and made her way back down to the ground floor, near the dining room, she was surprised to see another familiar face—one that was not Petter's.

"Uncle!"

King Henryk of Corona turned, his face brightening as his blue eyes fell on her. "Elsa!"

"I'm glad you were able to come. I know it's a bit of a long journey for you."

The king shrugged, his smile warm. "It's only five days. Did Princess Anna accompany you?"

"No, she's taking care of Arendelle for me."

"Your aunt stayed in Corona for that purpose," he explained, giving her a good-natured but knowing look as if to

suggest that Elsa's cousin and her husband wouldn't have been up for the job. "May we both have kingdoms to return

home to."

Elsa laughed. The first time she had left Anna on her own in Arendelle, she might have shared that concern, but she was always proud to see how Anna had handled running the castle while she was away. Given the chance, Anna was more than capable. Besides that, she was always popular, with both the staff and the people of Arendelle. "I'm sure everything will be fine. How is everyone?"

"They're doing very well," he explained, beaming at the thought of his family. "And your family? Those children of

Anna's must be getting big."

"They're all wonderful. And yes, you wouldn't believe how much they've grown. They're quite the handful," she

laughed.

"I can imagine, if they're anything like Anna."

"Rolf is so much like her. Astrid takes after her father a bit more. She's a little quiet, but she's the calculating one.

She gives their governess as hard a time as her brother when she wants to."

"I don't know Lord Bjorgman very well, but it sounds to me like your niece takes after you," the king suggested with a

wink.

Elsa smirked, knowing it was partly true. She hadn't always been so poised. Seeing the frustrations that her niece and nephew's governess dealt with on a daily basis gave her so much sympathy for her and Anna's growing up, except theirs had been faced with Elsa's ice powers. "Fortunately for her, she doesn't take after me in everything."

The king laughed, but as soon as they entered the dining hall, Elsa was met by Prince Johan.

"There's a place for you here, Queen Elsa," he explained, indicating a seat at the far end of the table from the door, directly next to his own. As she sat down, and the rest were filtering in, she caught sight of Petter, who was directed to a seat at the opposite end of the table. She managed to catch his eye, her glance longing, before the prince demanded her attention once more. Once again, there was disappointment in Petter's eyes.

The conversation over the meal was kept light, and the topic of politics was avoided the best it could be with some of the monarchs missing, preferring to take their meals separately for the time being. By the time the main course was nearly finished, politics had of course become the main topic, or at least on Elsa's end of the table. Every chance he got, Prince Johan seemed to have a witty remark that never failed to cause Elsa to grin.

She tried to catch Petter when they were leaving the room, but he seemed to have disappeared once he left, and she only had a little time to change before she was to meet the prince once more.

When she met him, he presented her with a beautiful horse—taller and lighter-built than the horses in Arendelle, with a sleek black coat. His own was built the same, with a deep bay coat and a large white blaze. "My grandfather began importing horses from the continent," he explained proudly, giving the horse a pat. "Then we bred them with our own."

She wondered for a moment about the temperament, especially considering Petter's earlier tale, but she doubted he would risk international conflict. She moved the horse towards the block, getting ready to mount, when the prince stepped forward, offering her his hand.

"Here, allow me."

"No," she quickly said, taking a step backwards and away from him and the horse. "Thank you, though. I'm just so used to mounting on my own, it would be more difficult with help." She hoped he didn't take it personally, but it was the truth. She didn't want help with something she did so often on her own, and she didn't particularly care for the offer. Some things she let others help her with, but they were servants. This was an entirely different matter. Besides, riding gloves or not, she didn't want to take his hand.

He nodded, not looking shaken, and mounted his own horse, looking back to make sure she had done the same. "I'm impressed," he noted, watching as she bent forward to adjust her stirrups. "Most ladies are happy for me to do that for them."

She gave him a look, as if to question whether or not he was insinuating that her actions weren't ladylike. "I don't think I've done anything to be impressive, yet."

He laughed, his confidence completely unshaken. "I meant nothing by it. I'm sure you were riding as soon as you were able to sit on a pony, though."

"Not really," she said, sitting up as she finished getting comfortable in the saddle, though comfortable was perhaps not exactly the word she would use. While her horse was tall, this one was definitely taller. While it was somewhat exciting to be sitting higher, it was a little unnerving to be on any horse but her own. "I didn't do much riding until after I became queen, actually."

"You seem experienced enough. Do you do any jumping?"

Elsa stiffened, looking a little skeptical. "Only on my own horse." She certainly wasn't taking a strange horse over fences, if that was what he had in mind.

"How about hunting?"

"I'm not all that fond of it, but we have them on occasion." Elsa wasn't naive enough to think that the meat she ate didn't come from animals, but she could never bring herself to actually make the kill. No one in the royal family seemed to be able to. Anna wouldn't go on hunts, and Kristoff didn't enjoy them either, so he avoided them. Elsa had gone out with the hunting party a few times, as part of tradition, but whenever a target was set upon, she pulled back. She wouldn't admit to the prince that she didn't like to kill, however. He would likely think she was too weak, though she considered it a sign of strength.

He changed the subject and the mood lightened, and he did quite a lot of the talking until they were outside the city gates. Much to Elsa's relief, he didn't try to show off or try to set off at an unreasonable pace. Two hours passed by quickly, and by the time they were returning to the castle, Elsa was happy to say that she felt she had a better grasp on the city and the surrounding countryside. The prince seemed to have a witty story for everything, and from what she'd seen while they were inside the city gates, he seemed to be well-loved by the townspeople.

She didn't notice Petter at first as they rode past, Elsa grinning at some remark that the prince made, but she finally noticed him as she turned her horse around, readying to dismount. He was with someone who was presumably Alexander, his brother. The man looked to be a few years older, and they shared some similar features, but she was surprised at first to think that the man could be him. He wasn't as handsome as Petter, though he wasn't unattractive by any means—and perhaps that criteria would be better left to each individual. She'd also expected him to look every bit as infuriatingly full of himself as his brother, which was the only expectation that he lived up to. However, ever since she and Petter had become friends (though part of her still found that word a little odd for one of her advisors, but she was getting used to it) she'd found that she'd been wrong about him at first. For his brother, she was willing to make the same assumption.

That is, if they ever actually met. She hoped to catch Petter's eye, but he never seemed to turn, and the prince was attempting to hold out a hand again to help her dismount (which she once again refused as politely as possible). If she had noticed a few moments earlier, perhaps she would have seen the longing glance he'd thrown in her direction as she and the prince had been riding in, laughing together.


End file.
